T.O.

The Defence rests.

What fans?

For just awhile I looked at the handful of people behind home plate and they seemed frozen. I really thought "They've put card board cutouts out so it looks like people are there". Then they moved but for a sec I thought that was real. It may come to that.

11 - 7. A lucky score. I think we got em.

11,000 were Casper the Friendly Ghost and his friends. They're there they just don't show up on camera.

It's kind of like a gory car accident. You don't want to look, it's sickening to look, but you can't not look. It's just in this case it's every night.

I've not understood who calls what shots. To what extent are Baldelli's actions dictated by Falvey. How involved is Pohlad other than maybe dictating "Cut salary". But what you describe sounds like Falvey isn't worried about his job at all. There are grooves in my head from all the scratching.

I think it's mostly that you're a grownup now and it's really hard to "look up to" a 25-year-old when you're over 50. Definitely not that. Clearly it's easier idolize players of the past remembering mostly the good parts. I'm doing that. It's easy to forget that Tony O was laid up with knee problems repeatedly. But also he played through a lot of that. By today's standards that doesn't make sense but at the same time it was easy to admire. Back in that time the salaries were ridiculously low the owners did not have the players welfare as a priority. Players were expected to put out more. Today salaries seem ridiculously high. Players are probably seen more as financial assets than humans by the owners. Some players can sign long term high $ contracts and still perform at their top level (Judge, Ohtani) but so many struggle living up the expectations of their contracts. Not questioning the character of the players you name. Lopez is clearly a leader and has gone a long way to be a part of the community. He had a really good year in 23. He struggled since then. His maturity is evident. I admire how he can get himself in a jam and get himself out where others would fall apart. Still he was not great in 24. I often wonder what the effect of having so many "Pablo Days" has. I would think the pressure would be enormous. The way teams market the stardom or intended stardom of players can be shameful. Look at what the Twins did to hype Lewis. My comment was mostly focused on the past few years. I wasn't thinking of people like Mauer. I don't think things were great back in the day and awful now. But things are very different. Sometimes changes are both good and bad.

Social Media has probably had a negative impact on all of life. My impression from the 60s, 70s, 80s was that if there was something like George Brett hitting 400 the press would be all over him but otherwise the demands on players wasn't so great. Our expectations would have been less, more like hopes than expectations. Easier to look up to someone who has more than half his life a secret. Certainly true.

I had to look it up. According to Artie... "Dog's breakfast" is a British informal idiom referring to something that is a messy, disorganized, or poorly executed mess, or a confused mixture of things. It can describe a chaotic physical space, a badly organized project, or even a general state of disarray." The Twins certainly played like idioms. Maybe producing something more like the by-product of breakfast. Dis array of players is definitely a confused mixture that does not play as a team. More like individuals that don't have full awareness of themselves let alone that they are supposed to be a part of a unit intended to function together.

Do the dogs have to buy a ticket? Do they get a seat of their own?

Dogs and ponies are fun to watch. The Twins are painful to watch.

I was thinking today about who my favorite players are. What I came up with was in recent years I like players for their potential and often remain loyal well past the time they prove they won't live up to their perceived potential. Then I think back to my favorite time in baseball the sixties and I'm shocked at our present lack of players like Harmon K and Tony O and Jim K. Not just high achieving stars but players we looked up to. I don't think we'll ever have stars like that again. Is it the big salaries? Have we changed as fans? Has baseball changed for the worse? I think it may be all of the above.

What does this game have in common with the wagging tails at the park? It's Fur To The End.

Karma from bad management ran over the Dogma.

He may not have enough games to show he is healthy making him not very tradable, especially at his salary. Unless they are in Dire Straits and do it as a Correa like salary dump (Money for nothing).

Sigh Old.

Is that why so few people posting?

The Twins did so great on the last round of salary dump, can't wait to see what they could get this time. More "prospects", aka "not ready for prime time now and maybe never ready". Prospects! Is thar gold in them thar hills?

I've thought it looked like he sticks his nose into his helmet and smells it in between pitches. Or maybe reading his cheat sheet? Then has a weird way of starting with the back of the helmet and sliding it on his head. Maybe it is sweat that's distracting him. Regardless not a clutch hitter.

I'm right there with you including the part about not following baseball for years then coming back. Anything that takes thinking out of the game makes the game more boring.

Naw, that would be admitting mistake. They just made the biggest discovery of the century. They are genuses.

Baseball is a child's game. We get to be children in this forum and let it all out. However when a bunch of children are gathered there is always an adult (or someone who sees themself as the adult), to scold them, tell them they are wrong.. We be kids just the same.

Maybe this is what we need. They should know, it's the pre Twins.

For some reason I thought he made a lot more but Google AI says... Rocco Baldelli's salary for 2025 is expected to be $1 million, as per his contract that includes a 2025 season with a 2026 club option. That gives me hope but it would still be admitting a mistake for Falvey, but on the other hand it could deflect some criticism. Maybe?