Melissa Berman

This is really cool idea for a series. I could never forget that Thome home run in particular. Well done!

Gordon didn't even look like he was trying and he was still throwing 70s and 80s. He's got an arm!

So far so good out here!! Looks like staying north for now.

Great seats ? It's a beautiful day to be out!! Shade is definitely the way to go. Two games for the price of one, right!?

Thanks for the kind words! It was so windy yesterday and must've been so difficult to hit spots that I'm willing to cut Archer sIack, but short leash indeed. Ober threw a practice bullpen yesterday, so hopefully that's a good sign. As long as we have Ryan and a couple other solid starters I feel pretty good about where the starting pitching is at. I'm glad they just pick up the game where they left off too. Even though it would be beneficial for the Twins in this case to start over, it's nice for the players that they won't have a true doubleheader. Might as well just pick up where we left and save some time. Hoping for a split today!

Holy cow, sorry it ended up being so costly and such a bummer. Looks like you will get credit for any future 2022 home game if you bought the tickets from the Twins, so hopefully you can all make it out! Luckily lots more chances to wear that Correa jersey! ? I bought one for this season too!

I can't imagine how hard it must've been trying to pitch and hit your spots in high winds. I'm willing to cut Archer some slack here

Thanks for the kind words! ? This was a lot of fun to write, and truly my favorite form of writing too.

I was really impressed with how much they did for Star Wars Night- excellent points from you. I've been to sporting events where they barely mentioned the theme, but the Twins did a ton in just the small sample size we saw! They had an entire intro video like the Star Wars opening credit scenes, photoshop graphics and unique names for every player, they played Star Wars music, had Star Wars characters on the field and TC was costumes, and giveaway shirts, They probably had a lot more planned too. Really well done by them.

Wednesday's game vs the Houston Astros will no doubt be a memorable one for the fans and staff who were in attendance- even though they only saw 3 innings. Under a fittingly dark and foreboding sky, the Twins took the field alongside Darth Vader and a gaggle of stormtroopers in honor of Star Wars Night. From the moment "Obi-wan Kepleroni" and "Buck Skywalker" took the field, the wind was already whipping. Napkins and trash swirled across the field and fans chased hats ripped from their heads. As the first couple innings passed, the sky continued to darken until finally the rain opened up during the bottom of the second inning and sent fans scattering for the overhang and concourse. "It's watering down my beer!" a guy with a beer near me exclaimed as we both bolted for shelter. The Astros jumped all over Chris Archer and quickly took a 5-1 lead. The teams continued to play on through the rain and even some lightning (no comment on that one), but once reports of a tornado warning in nearby Eden Prairie came through, it seemed like only a matter of time until the rain and severe weather would continue its eastward march, reach downtown Minneapolis and bring the game to a halt. It was not lost on me that there was a tornado confirmed in Hutchinson, a mere hour west of Minneapolis, and my family and friends in the west metro were sheltered in basements, yet here we were at a baseball game completely exposed to the elements and in the storm's path. Sure enough, as the Twins took the field to begin the 4th inning, the grounds crew came out to tidy up the infield dirt (a fool's errand with the incoming rain, I thought to myself) and rookie reliever Yennier Cano warmed up on the mound, out came the tarp and into a rain delay the game went- before Cano could throw his first MLB pitch. Interestingly, it will go down as the date of his MLB debut. The Target Field Grounds Crew visibly struggled in the high winds to get the tarp down on the ground, and it was so windy that they had to weigh down the tarp with nine golf carts parked along its corners and sides. The Twins PA announcer and the outfield big screen instructed fans to seek shelter on the concourse and displayed an ominous radar graphic showing a giant mass of dark colors headed directly our way. At first, fans on the 300 level were allowed to stay on the upper concourse, where they mostly mingled and took videos of the torrential rain being blown across the field. I was doing exactly that when a concession worker walked up. "Do you want to see a really great view of the sky?" he asked. He motioned me to follow him, and we walked past a concession stand over to a beautiful view of North Loop overlooking the lightrail station. Lighting radiated across the sky and I snapped some pictures as a young man next to me profusely apologized to his date for the terrible game experience. You know the saying, you can't control the weather, but you can check the forecast. Actually, I just made that up. The concession stand worker stopped by about five minutes later to take another look at the sky. "You're still here?" he asked me. Sirens began wailing, and the ushers shepherded us to the lower concourse, which was jam-packed with soggy fans. I found a spot overlooking the field above the first base dugout and watched. I have truly never seen anything like it: the rain was coming down in such thick sheets that you could barely see the outfield video boards. The National Weather Service Twin Cities tweeted that the storm was expecting to bring Minneapolis wind gusts of up to 80 mph. A damage survey conducted the next day on Thursday May 12 concluded that an EF0 tornado touched down in Coon Rapids 15 miles north of Target Field. Despite the torrential downpour, I was awestruck with how well the Target Field drainage system seemed to be keeping up. While there was rain pooled on top of the tarp, the water on the infield dirt and surrounding grass was largely dissipating. As time ticked by, Target Field tried to find ways to keep fans entertained. With their tongue in cheek, they played "Rain Is A Good Thing" by Luke Bryan, which fans gleefully sang along to, and the Twins alternated between showing a Marney Gellner interview with Justin Morneau and an apocalyptic warning to stay sheltered. Unfortunately for those looking to dance, Club Rayne did not open today because the Twins cleared fans out of all seats. Fans appeared to be in good spirits during the delay, though some outwardly questioned why the Twins decided to play the game at all given the evening's forecast. At one point, a guy took advantage of there being no security on the field and ran onto the field. He ran across the tarp (without slipping, somehow) before he was apprehended near the third base dugout in a somewhat anticlimactic fashion- no tackling or chasing, he simply stopped running and walked into the loving, open arms of Target Field security. Though the severe weather had blown through by about 8:40 p.m., it continued to rain steadily, and it looked like it would continue until midnight. The concourse started to empty out. Then at 9:17 p.m., 1 hour and 20 minutes after they first rolled out the tarp, the Twins officially announced they were suspending the game until the following day, Thursday May 12 at 12:10 p.m. The Twins would pick up in the top of the 4th inning down 5-1. After being almost no-hit by Justin Verlander the day before, it was not the start of the game the Twins were hoping for. Can we get a do-over? Regardless, to me, Wednesday's game was one of those sporting events that is so bizarre that it rises to the level of being fun. The remaining fans in the stadium trickled out as "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" by Creedence Clearwater Revival played overhead. I sloshed back to my car dreaming of sunnier days ahead- both in the forecast and on the baseball diamond. *** Were you at the game yesterday or watching from somewhere else that got hit by severe weather? What was your experience like? Leave your comments, thoughts, and stories below. View full article

Another series, another sweep! The Twins just keep rolling! My main takeaway from this past weekend's series vs the Oakland Athletics is what a joy it was to get a glimpse of what the Twins' future lineup might look like. On its face, let's say someone showed you a Twins lineup featuring Royce Lewis, Trevor Larnach, Jose Miranda, Gilberto Celestino and Josh Winder on the mound. What year would you think it is? Although we are seeing some of these faces due to illness and injury, it's apparent that the future is bright for the Twins. They have depth, talent, and based on the number of one-run games they have pulled out this year, grit and ability to tackle adversity. The Twins have the largest division lead in baseball- 3 games over the the second place Chicago White Sox. But exactly as I predicted, here come the Sox; they have gone on a tear and have won 6 in a row. Things have begun to calm down in the field for them after starting the year off with a circus of errors. But as long as the Twins are taking care of business on the field, they don't need to worry about what the Sox are doing. Regarding Lewis specifically, seeing him make his long-awaited debut AND get his first hit on Friday was a blast. Considering how beautiful of a night it was and that the Twins' #1 prospect was making his debut, I was expecting a bit larger of a crowd, but I know several people who went to the game for the sole purpose of seeing Lewis debut. His hit brought about a funny moment that may or may not have been picked up by TV- when Lewis' first hit ball made its way back to the Twins dugout, Gio Urshela feigned tossing it into the crowd. If he actually did, it could've been a Tom Brady 600th touchdown ball situation. Regardless, the Twins fans in attendance treated him right and rewarded him with some big cheers during pregame introductions and after that first MLB hit. He received a standing ovation by many fans during his first at bat too, His debut has been a long time coming, and after having gone through ACL surgery and rehab, it was rewarding to finally see him on the field after all that hard work. Welcome to the Show! One other cool observation from the game on Friday- the Twins put up the score of the Wild game on the outfield screen! I really appreciated being able to follow along what was going on with the game. My friends and I could barely believe our eyes when we saw the board light up that the Wild had scored two goals in the first couple minutes while on the road. That's one way to quiet a crowd! I'm looking forward to getting to some more Twins games this week! Twins fans who were waiting for 70s and 80s weather to go, now is your chance. For those who like kicking back and having a couple beers at the ballpark (I'll stick to Gatorade and dollar dogs), look no further than the Twins' new promotion called "First 2 Drinks On Us!" For games on May 6- May 15, $30, gets fans a ballpark access ticket and two drinks. Considering that's probably about the cost of two beers (can you tell I'm not a beer drinker?), that doesn't seem like too shabby of a deal. Have a great week and Go Twins! His very first at bat! After Lewis' first MLB hit, a single!

Aaaand these two losses in a row to the Orioles aren't going to do us many favors ?‍♀️

Excellent points and analysis, especially on Benz. I was super disappointed that the move had the Timberwolves' blessing. It sounds like it came from both sides. "He said he was told, in conversations with BSN and the Timberwolves, that the decision was not related to his performance. He was told, Benz said, that both parties believed it was time for a fresh start." So if not related to performance, what does a "fresh start" even mean? Agree with your point that it probably is a new owner wanting to bring in their own guy or whatever. It's completely unnecessary; I don't believe in making changes for the sake of it, and making a move so unpopular with fans after you finally just won them back this year is foolish

Or maybe you're just REALLY good at predicting the future

I could practically do this too. I have a rabbit ears antenna for 4, 5, 9, and 11 lol. ESPN is also necessary for me to have though

Agree to disagree there! ?

Frustrated, cord-cutting Twins fans unable to watch the Twins on Bally Sports with their current streaming or satellite package will soon have another option to catch the action on their TV- for a price. On Wednesday May 4, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, which owns the Bally Sports regional networks, announced it is planning to do a “soft launch” of its standalone streaming service by the end of the current fiscal quarter, meaning before July 1. The new streaming service will cost $19.99/ month, or if fans commit to a full year, they can get it for about $16 a month ($189.95/ year). Currently, a number of prominent streaming and satellite providers do not offer Bally Sports, including Hulu, YouTube TV and Dish Network, much to the chagrin of sports fans. It is unclear if subscribers to Bally’s new service will have access to out-of-market games or just those within their own market. Reporting by the New York Post in 2021 indicated that Sinclair was expected to seek the rights to out-of-market games, “although that could prove more difficult.” And if Sinclair gets those rights, it could charge a small additional fee for those games, according to the New York Post's source. MLB.TV, a service which gives subscribers access to the broadcasts of all teams (subject to blackout restrictions) for $24.99 per month, would likely serve as a competitor to Bally’s new service, though the latter would also feature hockey, soccer and basketball broadcasts as well, not just MLB. So far, reaction to Bally Sports+ appears mixed. Needless to say, the switchover from Fox Sports to Bally Sports has not been without controversy. First, there is the access issue- fans complaining in droves that they are unable to watch their own market’s games. In addition, fans have reported technical difficulties and outages during Bally broadcasts post-switch. Then there are unpopular personnel moves. Bally Sports made waves on Thursday morning when Timberwolves reporter Jon Krawczynski reported in the Athletic that Bally Sports North decided not to pick up the option for TV play-by-play announcer Dave Benz, ending a 10-year relationship. Benz and color analyst Jim Petersen formed a television duo that was universally respected, even beloved, across the league, among members of the media and fans. Benz was reportedly stunned and “heartbroken” when informed of the news on Wednesday morning. The news of Bally Sports moving on from Benz, announced almost concurrently alongside the new Bally Sport+ service, has ignited sports fans and commentators alike, and has some fans calling into question whether Bally Sports actually cares about the quality of its product or whether it is simply trying to cut cost-cutting corners. My take I am lucky enough that my family has DIRECTV, which has continued to carry Bally Sports, so I have had uninterrupted access to Minnesota sporting events. The games are so important to me, and truthfully the only thing besides the news that I watch on TV or stream, that if I had a Bally-less streaming service like Hulu, I would switch to a different one that carries Bally. If I can't watch Minnesota sports, there's no point in me having that service. But this is all beside the point. It has been discouraging and frustrating to see how difficult it is for fans to simply watch games within their own state. It is wrong that Sinclair makes watching sports a premium experience. Simply put, watching sports in one's own market should not be a luxury at a price point inaccessible to many people. I was raised on Fox Sports North, available on cable at the time. My siblings watched so many Twins games that my sister could recite the Twins' copyright spiel forwards, backwards and sideways while talking at hyper-speed. "This copyrighted telecast is presented by authority of the Minnesota Twins and may not be reproduced or retransmitted in any form..." See if you can finish it. It is concerning that children especially, the baseball fans of tomorrow, are growing up in an environment where they are much less likely or simply unable to watch Twins games on TV. No, I'm not out here saying that kids need to be watching a bunch of TV, but kids grow up looking up to athletes. These athletes encourage kids to get into sports, and I, as middle school and high school ski coach, am a huge advocate for children, especially girls, becoming involved in sports. The reason I am so in love with the Twins in my present-life is because I grew up watching them- both on TV and in-person. These bonds start young. I was familiarized with the players, and the players I grew up watching are still my favorites today. It was simply easier to be a fan back then. Yes, I have Bally on DIRECTV, but the latter is not cheap whatsoever, and I understand that it could be financially out of reach for some families. Bally should not be such an exclusive commodity. So while I am glad sports fans will have another sports streaming option in Bally Sports+ and I'm sure some of those with YouTubeTV or other services will gladly pony up, the price point is quite high when compared to what you potentially might get, especially if Bally Sports does not indeed offer out-of-market games. I won't pretend to understand the intricacies of how much it costs to produce broadcasts, but I do know that $19.99/ month will likely price some people out of watching. This is a Twins website, not a Timberwolves one, but because the broadcasts of both teams are carried by the same company and I am a massive Timberwolves fan, I will say that I am floored and disgusted that Bally Sports (along with the Timberwolves) have decided to move on from David Benz. To be clear, Bally Sports has not announced any other personnel changes or decisions. However, moving on from Benz, a universally-beloved and widely-respected play-by-play voice, has some understandably questioning what other decisions Bally Sports might make regarding other longtime voices. I highly doubt Bally Sports would decide to move on from Dick Bremer because he has covered the Twins since 1983, is widely-respected within the clubhouse and league and the Twins organization would have to sign off on this move. He is a future club Hall of Famer. Further, I am of the strong opinion that Bremer should have the job as long as he wants it. But moving on from the highly-popular Benz and breaking up one of the foremost broadcast duos in the NBA, to me, illustrates that Bally Sports is not concerned about what customers want and is probably just concerned about money or potential cost savings. The other anecdotal examples of fans griping on a perceived decrease in quality post Fox Sports North to Bally Sports North switch are not insignificant either. What are your thoughts on Bally Sports+? Would you subscribe to it? Let me know in the comments below. View full article

Absolutely- headed in the right direction!!

To me, power rankings are only legitimate if I agree with them. Alright, that's a little flippant, but the Twins are getting mixed amount of love in the power rankings so far. MLB's latest power rankings have them at 14th. The Tampa Bay Rays, who the Twins handled with ease this past weekend, are at #8 on their list. Yahoo Sports has the Twins in 11th, CBS sports has the Twins in 9th, and the Athletic has the Twins in the 10th spot. Fox Sports MLB Analyst and brother of a certain MLB pitcher Ben Verlander has the Twins in the 9th spot on his rankings. He has been very vocally high on the Twins lately too, both on his Twitter and his podcast. Top 10? Now that's more like it. The Twins have won 9 of the last 10 games and their roll is becoming reminiscent of their early 2000s heyday. They have the biggest division lead in baseball. For those who have the Twins ranked outside the top 10, what more do they want to see? Based on the events of this past weekend, the Rays should not be ahead of the Twins on any ranking. The argument keeping the Twins out of the top 10 is that the Twins supposedly have not played good teams so far. But the Twins have the 9th highest winning percentage in the MLB and 4 of its first 6 series were against 2021 playoff teams. And they are a completely different team than what we saw in that Dodgers series (we don't need to further speak about that one) and even vs the Mariners, a series in which the Twins split. The Twins offense is on par with their lights-out pitching: Byron Buxton is back, Carlos Correa just has his best series as a Twin, and the Twins are calling up some top prospects like Jose Miranda. The Twins could also be battling against last year's reputation, and outlets are waiting to if the 2022 Twins are the real deal. As we know, power rankings really don't matter very much. But it does feel nice to be recognized, and it seems the Twins are deserving of a bit more praise than they have been bestowed thus far by some outlets (looking at you, MLB's rankings). The upcoming series against the Orioles and Athletics likely won't do much to convince the experts that the Twins have played some high-quality opponents, but us who are following the team know what we're seeing. The recognition will follow.

This is all excellent analysis, especially on the running play. It was definitely a chain reaction situation, but at least it worked out in the end! Hopefully complete the sweep today. I do agree that it seems like things might just go our way this year and hopefully we will get some breaks. Hopefully we can stay healthy

Nevertheless, Sanó currently has a Rdrs Defensive Runs Saved Above Average of 1

Yeah "poor" "decrepit" something along those lines would've been a more accurate word choice. But we're only 17 games in and sample size is small. There are still some really high and really low averages out there. He started off so horrendously in those first 6 games specifically that he needs to dig out of that BA hole. I'm cool giving him some more time. He's trending up. Agree to disagree!

The melancholy Minnesota sports fans reeling from Timberwolves and Wild losses earlier in the evening who decided to flip their TVs over to catch the ending of the Twins game were treated to one of the most exciting albeit baffling endings of a game seen in a long time. Hey, a win is a win, right? Here are 3 of my Takeaways from yesterday's wild ending. 1. Twins are in control of the division and this is the time to pull away With two walk-off wins in a row, the bats heating up for players like Max Kepler and (hopefully) Miguel Sanó, Byron Buxton back in the lineup and performing as clutch as ever, and a Twins starting rotation that has an AL-best ERA of 2.60, the Twins appear to be firmly in control of the division and stand to continue to gain ground, especially considering what a mess top rival Chicago White Sox are in. The White Sox are on an 8-game losing streak, including the last 7 losses against 3 division opponents, are plagued by a host of injuries to impact players like Liam Hendriks, Luis Robert, and Eloy Jimenez, and have continued to commit a circus of errors in the field. The Sox lead all the MLB in errors with 20. The Twins, by comparison, have 8. If the Twins can sweep the Detroit Tigers, march into the AL East and play competitively vs the middle-of-the-division Tampa Bay Rays and the bottom-of-the-division Baltimore Orioles, they should hopefully continue to gain some ground. The Twins will go head-to-head with the current second place Cleveland Guardians on May 13-15 when the Twins host them for a 3-game series. I have no doubt that the White Sox will end up being fine in the end and will start wracking up some wins once they get some key players back and can calm things down in the field, but until then, it is important that the Twins put as much ground between the teams as possible. The takeaway here is that the Twins are on a 5-game winning streak, the momentum is with them, and the team is having fun again. That's worth a lot. 2. Miguel Sanó is starting to arrive Despite Sanó having what some seasoned Twins fans will regard as his perennial start-of-season slump, it appears that he might be starting to break out of it. This season, it has been apparent that the Twins have decided to stick with him and “play him into the ground,” so to speak, in hopes that he will work through his slow start at the plate. So far this season, Sanó has played in 16/17 games and has not been pinch hit for, even in situations like Sunday April 24's series finale vs the White Sox in which some fans were screaming for Carlos Correa to pinch-hit for him in a bottom of the 10th inning, down by 1, do-or-die situation. For those who have been in the "just stick with him" camp rather than the "send him down to St. Paul to figure things out" boat, it is gratifying to see him being to experience some degree of success at the plate, even though it has mostly continued to be in the form of singles here and there. His at-bats are becoming better quality, his strikeouts are becoming more infrequent (though, as a hitter he is always a high strikeout hitter, even in good times), and his statistics and specifically plate discipline (chase rate and walk percentage) mirror the profile of a consistent hitter who so far has just had some bad luck. Twins Daily's own Nick Nelson had a great tweet illustrating this fact. As we know, Sanó did not get his first hit until the 7th game of the season at Boston, and his batting average is up to a modest .096, but he has quite the hole to climb out of, and it will take some time before his batting average reflects improvement. Baby steps. But just by watching him (everyone's favorite highly scientific "eye test") he is clearly not as lost at the plate or as frustrated as he was to start the season. When he gets ahold of the ball, he is mashing it. Take a look at that exit velocity- the 9th highest exit velocity in the whole MLB. Of note, Sanó has been nothing but an asset at first base as well. Yes, Tuesday's 9th inning hit could have almost been an error, and his baserunning on the play could have been disastrous. No, the Sanó of a few weeks ago wouldn't have had that hit. The takeaway: Sanó was the hero of yesterday's game and big plays like this will hopefully inspire the confidence he needs to continue to return to form. Stick with him a little longer and he's going to be one of the best power hitters in MLB. 3. We probably need to work on our baserunning a bit It is no question that yesterday's 9th inning walk-off was quite fortunate and arguably even lucky for the Twins. When Sanó singled on a line drive to right field, Trevor Larnach held at third, Gio Urshela kept running when Sanó continued to second, and we all collectively screamed at our TVs. Tigers catcher Eric Haase threw the ball over third base into left field (airmailed it, we would have called that in softball) allowing two runners to score and the Twins received a happy reprieve. That play could have easily turned into a double play, and if Kepler had not struck out before Sanó/Haase did not overthrow it, that play feasibly could have feasibly been a triple play. Rewatching that play with the camera focused on Sanó, it appears his eyes are solely fixed on the ball and he isn't paying attention to what the other baserunners are doing. Somewhat relatedly, the Twins also have had three runners thrown out at home so far, including a memorable and unfortunate play vs the Mariners when Sanó was sent home and was ultimately thrown out by approximately a mile despite the base paths being only 90 feet. The Twins have been caught stealing three times this year, which appears to be about league average. Yesterday worked out in the team's favor, other times might not. As the Metrodome light-up board once said, "Walks Will Haunt," and bad baserunning undoubtably will too. Do you have any other takeaways from this memorable game? Leave a COMMENT below. View full article