IdahoPilgrim

By the way, great job on this page, and the work done in keeping it up to date.

MiLB website didn't pick this up, but BaseballAmerica did. For New Britain, Joe Benson is on the 7-day DL. He had surgery on his leg, probably ending his season.

It was noted elsewhere that this week attendance dropped below 30,000 at Target Field for the first time in its history. Some saw that as a harbinger of doom, leading to a vicious cycle of depressed revenues followed by lower payroll followed by a poorer product on the field followed by depressed revenues followed by... My own take: At last! This is what I’ve been waiting for since Target Field opened. Don’t get me wrong – it was fun to see a full ballpark for a while. But I’m glad the honeymoon is over. Why? Because I don’t like crowds. That’s not to say I don’t like people. In small, carefully controlled quantities people are great. But I’ve never liked when it gets to the point where you don’t have any elbow room. That’s why I’m always of two minds about going to the State Fair. I enjoy the experience, at first, but after a couple of hours the throngs have begun to wear on me and I start thinking about a quick exit. Thinking back on my tour of the Twins farm system the two most enjoyable game-day experiences were in New Britain and in Elizabethton. In both cases, attendance was about two-thirds of stadium capacity. The other parks felt too empty. At the 2/3-capacity level, though, there was enough crowd to provide a lively atmosphere and yet still enough free seats to be able to spread out and move around and not be crowded (and in one case to flee the merciless rays of the sun). Somewhere in the 65%-75% range felt like a good mix. Translating that metric to Target Field, and you have a desired audience in the 25,000-30,000 range. The concourses are not quite so crowded, the concession stand and restroom lines are more reasonable, and you don’t have to worry about getting seated next to someone who will ... ah... hamper the game-day experience for you. You also have the advantage of flexibility in going to games. One of the things I hated about the first couple of years in the new stadium is the difficulty in making a same-day decision to go see a ballgame. For good parts of those seasons they were sold out in advance. I remember going down one time and having to make the choice between a standing-room ticket and going home empty after having paid for parking. Now, I can look at the weather, see how I feel, and, when the time and mood are right, head out to the park on a whim and catch a game. That was part of what I enjoyed about my minor league experience, and I’m glad those days are back for the Twins. Is there a chance that attendance will fall to a point where the stadium becomes less lively? Of course. I remember some of those days in the Metrodome, and they were not pretty. I hope it never becomes a ghost town on game day. But I for one welcome the return of casual baseball, when I can get up that morning, with nothing planned, and say “Hey, I think I’ll catch a Twins game today.”

It was noted elsewhere that this week attendance dropped below 30,000 at Target Field for the first time in its history. Some saw that as a harbinger of doom, leading to a vicious cycle of depressed revenues followed by lower payroll followed by a poorer product on the field followed by depressed revenues followed by... My own take: At last! This is what I’ve been waiting for since Target Field opened. Don’t get me wrong – it was fun to see a full ballpark for a while. But I’m glad the honeymoon is over. Why? Because I don’t like crowds. That’s not to say I don’t like people. In small, carefully controlled quantities people are great. But I’ve never liked when it gets to the point where you don’t have any elbow room. That’s why I’m always of two minds about going to the State Fair. I enjoy the experience, at first, but after a couple of hours the throngs have begun to wear on me and I start thinking about a quick exit. Thinking back on my tour of the Twins farm system the two most enjoyable game-day experiences were in New Britain and in Elizabethton. In both cases, attendance was about two-thirds of stadium capacity. The other parks felt too empty. At the 2/3-capacity level, though, there was enough crowd to provide a lively atmosphere and yet still enough free seats to be able to spread out and move around and not be crowded (and in one case to flee the merciless rays of the sun). Somewhere in the 65%-75% range felt like a good mix. Translating that metric to Target Field, and you have a desired audience in the 25,000-30,000 range. The concourses are not quite so crowded, the concession stand and restroom lines are more reasonable, and you don’t have to worry about getting seated next to someone who will ... ah... hamper the game-day experience for you. You also have the advantage of flexibility in going to games. One of the things I hated about the first couple of years in the new stadium is the difficulty in making a same-day decision to go see a ballgame. For good parts of those seasons they were sold out in advance. I remember going down one time and having to make the choice between a standing-room ticket and going home empty after having paid for parking. Now, I can look at the weather, see how I feel, and, when the time and mood are right, head out to the park on a whim and catch a game. That was part of what I enjoyed about my minor league experience, and I’m glad those days are back for the Twins. Is there a chance that attendance will fall to a point where the stadium becomes less lively? Of course. I remember some of those days in the Metrodome, and they were not pretty. I hope it never becomes a ghost town on game day. But I for one welcome the return of casual baseball, when I can get up that morning, with nothing planned, and say “Hey, I think I’ll catch a Twins game today.”

You can't put anybody on the 60-day DL unless the 40-man roster is full. We have three vacancies (one of which could go to Hicks if the Twins so chose).

Too much on the option year. If Willingham is on a 3/21 deal, I would have a hard time offering more than 3/30 for Morneau, based on his stats this year in comparison (even given that the first half sucked and he has been better recently). That includes a premium for being a fan favorite. And I see him transitioning more to a DH role in the future - I would tap Parmelee as my 1B in the near future, with Mauer playing there intermittantly.

That just about sums up the whole season.

Go ahead - ruin a perfectly good conspiracy theory.

Phew! Now I feel better. I've been losing sleep wondering how we were going to get Carson that extra three days to play.

The whole point of the 15-day DL is to free up a 25-man spot in case of an injury. Starting September, the 25-man roster goes away, and putting Span on the 15-day DL accomplishes exactly nothing. Oh, my head! It hurts! P.S. Didn't Bud Selig call us one of the best organizations in baseball just yesterday?

Am I watching the right channel? I was looking for the Twins team that I saw last night.

I haven't been following that closely, but given he's had a slow year (getting better but still sub-par for him), could it be teams are pitching him more aggresively and challenging him more in the strike zone?

It will be interesting to see whether the Twins offer him arbitration in the off-season or let him walk. With Nishi back in the doghouse and Escobar not showing much yet they might choose to keep him, for depth. A month ago I'd have been sure he was history after this year.

Try hitting it anywhere but dead away center.

Why do I feel like someone who's crawled through the desert for two days and is now drowning in the oasis?

Sounds like a normal marriage.

OT - Congrats to Elizabethton for winning their playoff opener tonight on the road. Berrios one hit through six innings with 7 K's. Elizabethton wins 4-0.

Good timing for Plouffe to find his mojo again.

Sam looks pretty sharp tonight. I may end up going to bed happy for a change.

Given their offense recently, I think they should scratch to get a run no matter what inning it is. It could be the game winner.

That's why you have to move the runners, Ben.

Don't worry - I'm sure they'll price them very reasonably:rolleyes:

Actually hasn't been too bad yet today. Of course, I'm watching it out of the corner of my eye, just to cut down on exposure a little.

The way he's going I wouldn't rule out Jose Berrios (don't know which team gets PR players).

That's my point - the other PDCs that have been reupped (Rochester, New Britain) have already been announced. The one we are fairly sure is in jeopardy (Beloit) has not. The article says they got the money from the state, so the county has the resources now to live up to the deal they negotiated (it would have been dead without that), but the county board still needs to give final approval, and there are some who are pushing them to reverse course after the election. Again, you are probably right, but...