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Axel Kohagen

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Blog Entries posted by Axel Kohagen

  1. Axel Kohagen
    We're Still Doing This? (Twins 3 Rangers 2 -- Game 133)
     
    Forgot this was a solid win until a Rangers fan reminded me of it on Twitter. Close game against a great pitcher and a good team. Twins win.
     
    I was more excited about another Morneau homer. Morneau may be Canadian, but his backstory makes him a real American hero. Brash but charming slugger finds early success, suffers a career- (and life-) threatening injury, and is just now getting to the part where the audience stands back on their feet. Rudy and all that.
     
    Loss of a Load-Bearer (Twins 1 Rangers 2 -- Game 134)
     
    Twins lost, 1-2. That's all that need be said about the game.
     
    The real loss came when the Twins traded Morneau to the Pirates for puzzle pieces that can't be properly appraised yet.
     
    I heard the news that day on a tweet from Aaron Gleeman. Gleeman's tweets and the Twins official tweets are both sent to my phone, but Gleeman's are usually faster and better. Of course, this means I also notice everything he ever tweets ever and risk getting blocked and banned by him, but I'm never behind on Twins news. Ever.
     
    I'm happy to see Morneau back with "Let's Hear It for Franky" Liriano in Pittsburgh, but I'm going to miss him. He has perfected the ultimate baseball combo of having a chip on his shoulder and a smirk in the corner of his mouth.
     
    I used to think maybe Trevor Plouffe was waiting in the wings to fill this role, but I don't think so now. The Twins have a long way to go to put some punch on this team again.
     
    When they do, though, will they just trade it away?
     
    No Twins Hat in the Mirror (Twins 4 Rangers 2 -- Game 135)
     
    Without the promise of a post-season to entice me, there's no way the Twins game can keep me from a Sunday nap. Morneau trade compensation player Alex Presley had himself a nice game. Correia acquitted himself nicely. Twins win the series 2 to 3 and most Twins fans are probably still bloated on State Fair food.
     
    I always thought of myself as the kind of Twins fan who was in it for thick and thin. Looking back on my recent posts, I'm a crappy fair-weather cheerleader who doesn't have the time of day for ballplayers who can't win to breaking even.
     
    I doubt that'll change any time soon, but it's worth remembering the next time I think about cussing out those whiny, drama-starting Twitter personalities who know just what not to say, then say it. Evolutionarily speaking, we're not that far removed.
  2. Axel Kohagen
    Slam the Door (Twins 1 Royals 6 - Game 130)
     
    I won't pretend any interest in following this game. A certain combination of real life emergencies left my family shell-shocked and living in a bunker mentality. This delayed my game recaps, and as you can imagine that delay was the least of our concerns.
     
    I woke up from a nap that felt like a flatline to the Twins taking the fall on a heavy-hitting eighth inning. A score like that tells me I didn't miss anything by skipping out on the cleats and stirrups set for the evening.
     
    In fact, in a world of real life, the Minnesota Twins feel increasing less real and more like an outdated social nicety. You know, like not answering the phone during dinner. I don't want to be bitter, but I feel like I'm providing more spark in this relationship than the team is.
     
    Why So Undemanding? (Twins 1 Royals 8 - Game 131)
     
    Referencing goth-rock legends Sisters of Mercy in my recap title doesn't bode well for my mood regarding Minnesota baseball.
     
    Albers fever, as a fad, sure didn't have much to it. The day of this game, people were really stretching to keep Miley Cyrus's performance socially relevant. It's a fickle world.
     
    Morneau hit a home run, putting him within range of 20 in a nice bounce-back season. That's one thing to cheer for. I've already had one conversation with a friend about how we can't even remember what it felt like to be excited about a ballgame.
     
    Earlier in the season, some folks on the Internet were demanding bullpen cars for Target Field. If they brought those cars into play now - and be honest - is there anything else fans would remember about the season?
     
    This Feels Like a Dumping (Twins 1 Royals 3 - Game 132)
     
    A Bruce Chen beating. A Royals sweep. At Target Field. Deduno doesn't get much done. I caught part of this one on the radio, and I didn't feel like life was doing me any favors.
     
    It occurred to me that switching over the Pirates would even allow me more access to watching the team. Thanks to blackout restrictions, I can't watch my Twins without navigating the cable waters. However, taking advantage of late season discounts could have me watching a whole lot of Pirates games.
     
    The autograph party and various Pro-Shop signing used to keep me connected to the team. Now it's Twins Unplugged and fancy events. Even the radio station, when the games aren't playing, feels like it's talking to someone else. A someone else who buys a whole lot of Greatest Hits CDs.
     
    I'm complaining, but I'm not demanding. This may be a fit for a lot of fans, and the Twins and those fans have every right to enjoy themselves and be happy. I just feel like I signed on for a tough and humble bunch of athletes who really connected with the fans. Now, the whole vibe of the team feels like it's separated by a plastic sneeze guard and snotty receptionist.
     
    Does a bad mood and rough month cloud my judgment? It's worth considering. But if this sickly gut feeling resonates with other fans out there, maybe it isn't just me.
  3. Axel Kohagen
    Cheating On My Mind (Twins 5 Indians 1 - Game 127)
    I missed cheering for Deduno, who held the Indians to 3 hits in 6 innings. I was excited after the game ended, but I forgot Close Encounter of the Wild Kind took the mound.
     
    Truth is, Twins gang, I’ve been sending all my hopes and dreams down Pittsburgh’s way. If the Pirates have a winning season I’ll screech in joy. If they make the playoffs I’ll hit a sports bar to watch.
     
    The Pirates have made for a nice baseball mistress over the years. Cheering for them always felt charitable. Also, my Cubs-loving friend always poo-poos my claims the Pirates were going to worm their way out of baseball hell. If they pull this off, I get to poo-poo all over him.
     
    And with Frankie Liriano pitching himself silly for the team? I couldn’t love them more.
     
    I still get excited to check scores at night, but now it’s for another team. Don’t judge me, because I know most of you have another baseball team to be the delight of your dog days of summer.
     
    Twins won. Pirates won. Guess everybody won, huh?
     
    Leading With My Gut (Twins 2 Indians 7 - Game 128)
     
    At Twins Fest, I told Liam Hendriks he was going to bounce back this year. I believed it in my gut. I told Kubel the same thing before his final year with the Twins, and look how well he did. I left that autograph line smugly convinced I’d heralded the coming of greatness.
     
    Now, Hendriks only cameos with the Twins, and he gave up 7 runs on 7 hits in under 5 innings. More proof – if any was needed – that gut instincts tend to be the end result of finishing a story as best you see fit, not as the evidence suggests it will happen.
     
    If your gut ever let you down, tip a beverage to all things statistical. Imagine what baseball teams would look like if everyone led with their guts.
     
    Body Blows (Twins 1 Indians 3 - Game 129)
     
    Pelfrey was another gut instinct nightmare for me.
     
    I can’t help it. Once I think a pitcher’s going to break out, I never give up that belief. Pelfrey got filed in my “Watch That Man” bin and he’ll never leave, even if he develops a life-threatening allergy to baseballs or is shot into space. You’d think I still believed in Santa Claus.
     
    Pelfrey gave plenty of evidence that he will not be the Twins pitcher of the future. He was edged out by Cleveland pitcher Scott Kazmir, another pitcher from my “Watch That Man” file. Kazmir’s probably not reaching the pantheon of greatness, either. My gut instincts need a few thousand crunches and a double dose of reality.
     
    Twins lose. Pirates lose. I was riding high back on Friday.
  4. Axel Kohagen
    Focal Point (Twins 6 Tigers 3 -- Games 124)
     
    The Twins win, but do so with an albatross hanging around their neck. An albatross with a catcher's mask and sideburns.
     
    Joe Mauer sat out this game and ended up on the 7 day concussion DL. This has the potential to be beyond bad. Mauer is the reference point that holds the Twins in position. If his efficacy is limited or destroyed by the lingering side effects of a concussion, down goes up and up goes down.
     
    In these trying times, I watch the scores thinking "At least Joe's out there, getting on base and staying focused." Now, what do I have left? An okay start by Mike Pelfrey? You can't build on that.
     
    Snooze 'N Lose (Twins 1 Tigers 7 -- Games 125)
     
    I played this baseball game between my ears as I settled in for a hump day nap. The score was still nothing nothing. I put my feet over my trusty Great Dane, who grudgingly agreed to share the couch with me. I imagined the focus in the eyes of each pitcher as they threw pitch after pitch of a near legendary duel.
     
    There's something in pitcher's duels that feels peaceful, like scales that are completely balanced.
     
    This was not such an event. Sometime after my eyes shut, Correia took a metaphoric rapier to the crotch and lost the duel. Such is how a tiring season drags itself into September.
     
    The Great Wall of No (Twins 7 Tigers 6 -- Games 126)
     
    Justin Verlander is a Great Wall of No to opposing hitters, but somehow the lowly Twins found a way to get around him today. Doumit, my favorite Danzig-trumpting ballplayer, blasted a home run. Late-inning hero Chris Herrmann went 3 for 5. A game I wouldn't have guessed the Twins would win, but some how the team with the out-of-focus future won.
     
    But wait, is there a lone sob to be heard in this victory? Albers gave up 9 hits in 5.2 innings, and his ERA is mortal again? I always wonder if it was really fun when it lasted, or if it just hurts that much more when it ends. Hope he comes back to where he was, of course, but this is where he is now.
     
    Actually, this is kind of where all the Twins are now, victory or not.
  5. Axel Kohagen
    (Twins 1 Mets 6 -- Game 123)
     
    Today, two teams who won't get near the playoffs came together to play one final game that didn't mean much of anything. Except the Twins still lost.
     
    Pitcher Kyle Gibson lost his job, too. I decided years ago he was going to be the future of the organization, so I made plans to stick with him throughout his ups and downs so I could say I always knew he'd be an ace.
     
    I willed it, but it didn't happen. I can't say I'm sure anymore, which means I have tumbled off of the Kyle Gibson bandwagon after all. I'd tell you I'll never give up just to look stalwart for the fanbase, but I know any my heart I don't expect anything beyond fourth or fifth starter for him.
     
    I'm not saying I'm an expert at anything, except at being cynical and reacting too emotionally.
  6. Axel Kohagen
    (Twins 4 White Sox 3 -- Game 119)
     
    Twins win on a walk-off hit from Chris Herrmann. That's a memory he'll keep in his back pocket forever.
     
    Pelfrey made a game of it on the mound. Maybe there's something to him, but I don't know if I can take another season of wondering what's going to end up on the Target Field mound, and what pitch its arm will fall off while throwing.
     
    What are the chances it's going to get better, though? I'm as optimistic about the future of Twins pitching as I was about finding a movie on VHS worth watching at the local gas station when I was a kid.
     
    Second Date (Twins 3 White Sox 5 -- Game 120)
     
    Mauer starting things off with a home run, so you'd think someone as polite as Joe Mauer would apologize for the let-down that was the rest of the game.
     
    Correia has a two year contract with the Twins, which reminds me of my personal rule to never commit to a formal event date with someone you just started dating. You don't want to have to put on finery to wince at a buffoon all night.
     
    I Got Somethin' To Say (Twins 5 White Sox 8 -- Game 121)
     
    Doumit went 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI on the same night metal icon Danzig crooned the catcher's walk-up song, "Mother," to a bouncy bunch of black-clad headbangers.
     
    If omens and dramatic timing meant anything in the real world, the Twins would've won. Albers slipped out of his heroic narrative and left the baseball floating in the real world, where the hits kept coming.
     
    Danzig brought out the hits, too. He's in his fifties but he moves pretty well from station to station, hitting the right notes and howling with the best of them. I had so much fun the sweaty fist I took to my package didn't ruin the evening. Maybe next time I oughta be more like ballplayer and wear a cup.
     
    Puppy Love (Twins 2 White Sox 5 -- Game 122)
     
    On my way back from meeting my parents and their six week old Dalmatian puppy at a park south of the Cities, I asked my cell phone if I wanted to bother trying to tune in the Twins game, already in progress, on the car stereo. My phone said no. I put the iPod on shuffle and shrieked along.
     
    My parents new puppy will be a Vikings fan, and will likely have her own little jersey. My beloved Great Dane has a Twins bandana. Pets are people, too, and they cheer for our teams whether they like it or not.
     
    I wonder if they make any connections in their doggy minds. When their owners put on certain clothes, at certain times, they start yelling and making too much noise. Sometimes they force ill-fitting outfits onto puppy bodies (GUILTY!). If pets doctored humans, they'd consider sports a virus.
     
    This season certainly is.
  7. Axel Kohagen
    We’re So Happy, Andrew Albers (Twins 3 Indians 0 – Game 116)
     
    Andrew Albers must’ve felt relieved when he finally hit the sack last night. He picked the Twins up with his right arm, the Twins fans up with his left, and still pitched a complete game shutout. That’s a lot of weight to haul around.
     
    I miss watching the games on cable more as the season stumbles toward a finish. Carroll’s gone to the Royals, who are eyeing life beyond the season finish. Even if the players don’t get cut or traded, they’ll be hibernating for the winter.
     
    Gotta love a brand new pitcher who can warm a town’s heart, even if his fastball didn’t bring much heat.
     
    Conjuring Hits (Twins 5 Indians 2 – Game 117)
     
    I silenced my electronic score updating machine and settled into the movie theater to give The Conjuring a chance to scare the crap out of me.
     
    The hit horror flick didn’t have the stuff to get it done, and when I pulled my phone out of my pocket the Twins didn’t have the good stuff, either. And after Andrew Albers mania announced itself to the world, I had high hopes for both the movie and the game.
     
    Scaring people with a movie is basically pitching. Disrupting timing. The scares The Conjuring pitched to me got left hanging over the plate, and I never felt unsettled. The good ones, like the original The Haunting, The Shining, or Rosemary’s Baby, leave you shaken.
     
    Andrew Albers is getting hyped up, too. People trip over themselves to be the first to proclaim a new scariest movie or scariest pitcher, because both are rare and beautiful. Also, both rarely live up to the hype.
     
    Blown Ending (Twins 9 Indians 8 – Game 118)
     
    Things would be neater if the Twins had won this game. Fans are still giddy with Albers fever, and the Twins put up a four run lead and held on. Until they let go and lost the game.
     
    I heard the Giambi home run on the radio and I could feel it in my bones. From there the game got energetic, almost pleasantly spiteful. Mauer paired his supernatural ability to get base hits with a dramatic home run, putting him at 5 for 7 for the day and keeping the Twins alive in the game’s late innings.
     
    Great story, but it ended more Bad News Bears than Major League.
     
    I wanted to be pissy about the loss, but I couldn’t. A good fight is a good fight. With fall crispness returning to the air, I’ll take any glory in a ballfield battle I can find.
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