D. Hocking

Hopefully you made it to morning and nothing came for you in the night.

I just watched the first season of Cheers (because, again, I am old). In addition to Hill House, I am watching Happy Valley (spoiler - it is not happy). It is a limited British series about a kidnapping gone wrong and is well done, but it is pretty dark, so it would not be for everyone. If you ever watched Grantchester on PBS, the lead is in it, but he is not exactly nice in his, although this show is better written than Grantchester. I watched Dark, a German series that was probably influenced by Stranger Things. First episode or two showed some potential, but by the end, I just wanted those hours back (and then it never answered anything leaving everything for a season 2 I did not realize was coming and do not intend to watch).

Anyone watching the Haunting of Hill House on Netflix? I am two episodes in and so far am liking the slow burn. The fact that the flashback father was the kid in ET does make me feel a little old. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9OzG53VwIk

I just finished the second season on Netflix. I thought it had some funny moments at first, and then once I got into it I thought it was pretty funny and original, but then the concept started to wear thin and I am luke-warm about whether to try and watch season 3. It is a show seems to be a bit too focused on "look how clever and out there we are". There are also "character growth" moments that don't really seem earned or true to the characters. This is a good example of a show that should have just had a limited ten to 15 episode run. I do think the cast is talented and have had some funny moments, but now their actions have gotten a bit repetitive.

This seems to go with LENIII - Molitor was surprised: I am thinking there would have been some discussion with the Pohlads before last week - but maybe they wanted to have everything in order first. They certainly have not done the rip the band aid off quickly for this regime change. One year they fire much of Gardy's coaching staff but keep Gardy. The next year the fire Gardy, but keep Ryan. The next year Ryan leaves, but the new GM is made to keep Molitor as manager and not bring in their own person. Then the team plays just well enough where they end up extending Molitor only to finally fire him.

This was kind of cool:

Sometimes the most logical answers are the ones that get missed.

Nice article. Yes -- I always thought a good portion of who was perceived as a leader largely hinged on being verbose when talking with the media. It actually sounds like Joe did more actively take a leadership role the last few years and his teammates do seem to look up to him. I think if you asked them, they would want him back next year. His even keeled -- stick to the routine and focus on the current game -- probably helped set an example that helped prevent the team from completely imploding when they dismantled everything in July. I suspect he was still getting to the ball park early and preparing for the game even when it was apparent that the front office had called it a season. The Twins did a nice job with this video: Watching him put on his catching gear you can see he is almost overwhelmed. https://twitter.com/Twins/status/1046876533313363969

While I am sure this is/was a very hard decision, it does seem like he will be at peace with it. In some ways he already had his big professional heartbreak when he gave up catching. He did a podcast with Corey Koskie about a month ago, where he said he went in a room and cried when made that decision. (the fact that he did that fairly long interview and was pretty open is when I began to think this might be it). I think he grieved when he had to give up the tools of ignorance, where this decision is one of his own making - and while hard, more bittersweet than just bitter. This was a nice gesture:

The way those two little girls ran and jumped into his arms makes me think that he will be just fine if he never plays another game.

Playing both games in a double-header when there is nothing at stake, does make me think that he at least thinks this could be it if he has not already made up his mind. It probably is best for him (not sure I would have said that prior to the latest concussion - because I think he still loves to play), and where the team is at it is probably best to get some of the younger players of the future playing the position (watch they will sign some player past his prime next spring for a veteran presence), but it does seem a little sad to think he will be done. He is the last person from that 2000's Twins era and in many ways he seems like a throw back to another time with his demeanor and style of play that we probably won't see again for awhile. It is nice that he has had a few good moments and milestones the last few weeks and he has been playing pretty well, so if this is it, he will be going out on as positive note as you can for a team that under-performed. Side-note, while the team has not exactly been good the last couple of months, they also did not just completely mail it in when the team was dismantled in July. They have had some bad games, because they aren't that good, but I feel like they are still trying to win and it does not seem like the club house is toxic (although who knows for sure). I don't think you will be hearing any stories of how Mauer was a dark cloud at the end of the losing season.

Taking from the title of this thread "Let's Enjoy It" am not going to do any analysis of whether he should come back or not (think there are enough other threads for that, but just going to enjoy the week. Glad he was able to reach a few more milestones at the end (including tonight. He has really seemed to appreciate some of these moments (which does tend to make me think this might be it). I know a lot of people don't think he has been a good leader, but this past year there have been a few comments from teammates where I have really gotten the impression that they respect him and there could be a lot worse examples in the club t house than him.

Joe does not exactly love doing interviews, and this might mean nothing, but the fact he did this in-depth (for him) interview with Koskie (not to mention his statement to LaVelle) makes me think he is getting ready to say good bye. https://anchor.fm/linklete/episodes/Joe-Mauer--Minnesota-Twins-e264ri/Joe-Mauer-Minnesota-Twins-a57gk0?utm_content=buffer918e6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&sf92548376=1

This might not belong in this thread, but since we probably don't need another Mauer thread, I did think this was kind of a cool story. https://www.twincities.com/2018/08/25/not-vocal-twins-joe-mauer-has-a-quote-on-a-t-shirt/

Yes - whenever he retires there probably won't be an announcement until he cleans out his locker for the last time. They can have a Joe Mauer night at one of the home games the following season. The beginning of the year I would have liked to see him play another year or two, but after the concussion this year, I am leaning towards where I was with Justin at the end and thinking it might be better to retire now to protect the health long term. I suspect having a new baby and the girls entering the age of school age activities might also factor in to his decision.

I am not anti-Molitor, but I think it would be really beneficial having Ripley on the coaching staff somewhere. I am not sure she knows baseball, but she could put together a winning team. While selling is probably the right thing, I can help but feel bad for the players who are left behind. I am sure at some level they still had hopes of winning, and they are seeing their team get dismantled and basically having their bosses concede that they don't have what it takes and they still have two months left to play.

After yesterday's somewhat ugly loss, losing today would have really put a damper on what was otherwise a good home-stand I feel like if it were the 1980's Mauer and Go-Go could have stared in a sitcom of two unlikely roommates with slightly different personalities: https://twitter.com/fsnorth/status/1018603114541166592 .

It was great. I had been waiting them to revive the Francis the Talking Mule franchise for years. It was worth the wait. Funny, but with some real emotional depth that stays with you long after the movie is over.

I know someone who saw one of the Harry Potter movies like this and said it was pretty incredible. I did see the Avengers a couple of weeks ago. I did like it better than the last one. Without going into too much detail, they executed some of their game plans as well as the Twins. I had been meaning to see The Quiet Place, but it just left my theater. I will have to wait until it is on DVD or try to hit it at the cheap theaters.

Thanks- I think I might hold off. I probably watch too much TV as it is, and cutting out 8 to 10 hours by not watching Legion might not be a bad thing.

How did the season end? Did it remain weird for the sake of being weird or would you recommend it? I liked season 1, but two seasons of weirdness without a sign of a little more coherency might be a bit much.

Hopefully if enough of the other players hit, Dozier can relax a bit and get some hits. I feel like I have seen Mauer nail a pitcher hard more than anyone.

Now that you mention it, this year might be more like 2011 than 2016, or a combination of both. Not that makes me feel any better. Mauer and Morneau were 23 and 25 in 2006. I am not sure I appreciated how young they were when they became key players.

The main question now, is who will play the lead in the movie Hocking - Utility Hero? Sadly, Brad Pitt is now too old for the part. Maybe he could play the role in the sequel that takes place during the LumberKing years.

They played some pretty bad baseball over that period, but I do wonder how much losing four days to the winter that did not end and then flying off to PR messed them up. It certainly does not excuse that stretch and there were flaws exposed that had nothing to do with a disruption of games, but I wonder if that stretch would not have been quite as ugly.