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Longdistancetwins

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Everything posted by Longdistancetwins

  1. Longdistancetwins
    My good friend has been a White Sox fan for about 60 years. Since he is my tennis partner, I see him frequently. We manage to root civilly for each other, and he’s been explaining for these past few years how they are rebuilding. Our friendship survives because we have this strange thing in common: we’ve rooted for decades for these out-of-town teams without ever having lived anywhere near where our team played. Still, I’m jealous because now it looks like they did everything right.
  2. Longdistancetwins
    Being an out-of-towner, I didn't hear his broadcasts. But being an old-timer, I never tire of delighting in his return to the organization. Anyone who was around in June of 1976 would never have believed this could happen. Write your memoirs, Bert. Think of all you have seen and participated in!
  3. Longdistancetwins
    It was the weirdest of seasons: the team went from being the worst in the league until late June, to being the hottest in the second half. It wasn’t at all a .500 team in the usual sense.
  4. Longdistancetwins
    Maybe "no evidence to back it up," but these were my thoughts, also. Never thought of myself as a socialist or anything, but there's no reason to honor ownership at a ballpark unless such a person really made an outstanding contribution to society along the way.
  5. Longdistancetwins
    Dan Monzon (died in an auto accident in the '90s. RIP)
  6. Longdistancetwins
    Bobby Randall
  7. Longdistancetwins
    Agree on the need to mention 1967, 1969, and 1970, but I'm glad you included 1988. My memory of 1988 was that we were going on a strong clip but couldn't catch Oakland. It felt like literally match for match: if we won, Oakland won that day; if Oakland lost, we lost. It happened that I was driving cross-country, east to west during that time (beastly hot summer, by the way). When I got to the Bay Area, in August, I remember watching the newscast, and the announcer saying, "The A's won today, so, of course, that means the Minnesota won also." I felt so vindicated that someone else noticed this bizarre pattern. But in September, we ran out of steam and couldn't keep up Oakland's pace.
  8. Longdistancetwins
    Thanks. Jacque Jones; Delmon Young.
  9. Longdistancetwins
    Is that charming or what? Someone should go all through the alphabet.
  10. Longdistancetwins
    Became both a baseball and a Twins fan in 1967, being caught up in the great pennant race. As my moniker suggests, it was always a long distance love, growing up in the New Jersey suburbs. But the teams I followed most closely were indeed those of the early/mid 1970s. It was free agency that killed my passion; not only seeing every (no exaggeration) player of quality leave, but having to endure their war of words with Calvin (I mean Calvin could even insult an all-around good guy like Larry Hisle). Then I lived for a time in the Rocky Mountain West before they had major league baseball and returned to New York just in time for the strike-divided season of 1981. What brought back my passion? One night late in 1981, I didn’t bother going to Yankee Stadium when the Twins were in town. And in the middle of the 11th inning, I congratulated myself for being a working grown-up and turning off the TV. The next morning I heard all about a rookie from Bloomington, Minnesota—of all places—hitting a home run in his first game to win it for us. I was so thrilled by the story that I couldn’t even be mad at myself for not staying up to see it. Yes, Herbie’s home run made all the difference; I had my first love back, just in time to see the Class of ’82 fail and eventually blossom into the 1987 champs (and, as one might imagine, having Blyleven and Smalley back for that ride was a special and delightful irony for me).
  11. Longdistancetwins
    I remember seeing the movie "Moneyball" (I never read the book). They way they depicted it, those Oakland A's starting winning when the chemistry, confidence (to play a new position), and leadership kicked in.. I was amused how Hollywood negated the book's argument.
  12. Longdistancetwins
    Shulz was from the Twin Cities, right?
  13. Longdistancetwins
    Okay, now that the season is (predictably) over, I'll admit it: The Bombas were fun up to a point, but I prefer TK's teams--good defense, fundamentally sound, ability to occasionally steal a base. Admired, rather than feared. I know this is old-fogeyville, but, there, I've said it.
  14. Longdistancetwins
    Cool analogy. Thanks for sharing.
  15. Longdistancetwins
    It's what I've been saying, having seen too many Yankee-Twins games for so many regular seasons. There's no reason these two teams have to be cosmically linked to forever meet in the playoffs.
  16. Longdistancetwins
    I agree. Yeah, I'm here in New York, so I can't separate out this decades-long incompetence against the Yankees. I do believe we will advance in the playoffs one of these years, but it is going to be by NOT getting the Yankees in the draw. That's been part of the curse. Sorry for the pessimism...
  17. Longdistancetwins
    Fun! I have to admit that I made my first visit to Target Field last month (yes, I had been to the old Met and the Metrodome). I saw the Twins win (rare for someone who usually has to see them in Yankee Stadium). But my host realized that my biggest kick was seeing all the jerseys. I couldn’t get over it; it was like a fashion show! Someone wore a 1960s style pinstripe shirt with the number 5, and no name. I kept wondering, “Was this Michael Cuddyer in a vintage shirt? Or honoring Leo Cardenas and Don Mincher?”
  18. Longdistancetwins
    On a cold, very wet day in early May, I went to see the Twins lose once again at Yankee Stadium. Still, I walked out (in the rain) saying to everybody who would hear, "We'll be back in October." Now I'm not so sure...So, yeah, thanks for this "worry-thread."
  19. Longdistancetwins
    It's the same type of leukemia that got Danny Thompson in the 1970s. At that time it was a virtual death sentence, albeit one that usually gave the patient a few years to live (Thompson managed to play baseball without interruption partly because there wasn't much that could be done for a long-term cure other than some unpleasant experimental treatments). Now, thank God, a full cure is possible, but it may involve a really tough regimen that includes bone marrow transplants, etc. So our hope and prayer for Cookie Carrasco is that he can be cured and still pitch. (No, I'm not an MD, just a Twins fan).
  20. Longdistancetwins
    I just purchased a new device that included Siri. First question: "Who's the best team in baseball?" She passed the test.
  21. Longdistancetwins
    Hey, I give you credit: I chickened out of going because of the cold (it was supposed to be in the high 50s and yet game time was 46 degrees and very damp). And that was a shame about the ushers. Glad you saw a win, at least.
  22. Longdistancetwins
    Mets radio announcers were surprisingly dismissive of the Twins in the pre-game show. Surprising, because they are both interesting up-and-coming teams. They acted like they had a huge dominance over us because a few long-ago interleague series wins. I was thinking, "Dude, you aren't the Yankees..."
  23. Longdistancetwins
    I appreciate what Niko said about losing to the Angels in '02, but we did have the privilege of seeing an actor (or stunt man) portray Eddie Guardado in "Moneyball" and pitch that last out against the A's. Am I remembering that right?
  24. Longdistancetwins
    I did love Cardenas's steadiness, and the way he played in so many games. I remember the LaRoche trade but didn't connect it to the Nolan Ryan deal. Nice bit of trivia! Some of Thompson's problems were less to do with the disease and more to do with management's discomfort with relying on someone with such a terrible prognosis to play shortstop, of all things. It was frustrating for me as a fan, and immensely frustrating for him.
  25. Longdistancetwins
    I think MLB frowns on distracting from the World Series. So, the low profile/lack of coverage is what we "deserve."
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