tarheeltwinsfan

It means that in the grand scheme of things: "It matters not if you win or lose, it's how you play the game." I am a Twins fan for more than just the wins, as enjoyable as they may be. I think many readers at TD feel the same.

It is important for all of us Twins fans to read Mike Berardino's article "No Surrender" especially today after our disappointing loss last night. Matt Belisle had it right when he said: "Even if you lose, if you do it right, you're a winner." The 2017 Twins are winners. Period.

I do believe, I do believe . I think I can, I think I can.

A lot of variables with the roster decisions to be made and a lot at stake.

This has been a feast of outstanding baseball this year for the Twins' players, fans, organization, coaches and staff. The minor league teams did well and some promising prospects are on their way up. It has also been a great season for Twins Daily. Thanks to everyone here at Twins Daily. But the main thing I want to say to all of you is what we say sometimes at a large family dinner when we have finished the crisp salad and the delicious main course and we are getting ready for our favorite desert..."Hold on to your forks, the best is yet to come"!

My proposed strategy, after calculating the Minnesota Euclidean logarithms of victory>defeat, my formula for happiness requires the Twins to score more runs than the Evil Empire. Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Twins!

Thanks Nicky and Rodney. huhguy you deserve a pat on the back too.

Oh wait....you must have Vargas instead of Duffy.

You have 25 players, but 2 two are numbered 15 and there is no number 18. I guess you were celebrating late last night... a day early. Thanks for you goo and interesting analysis.

In the musical, "Damn Yankees", the Washington Senators (the Twins' ancestor) beat the Yankees because Joe Boyd, aka Joe Hardy, hits a home run. We don't need Joe Hardy. We're a good baseball team that believes in each other. Go grab those Yankees by their sissy pinstripes and don't turn loose until they have been defeated and tossed aside like dirty laundry. Visualize Twins' players being interviewed as victors after the game, heads held high, shouting, laughing, cream pie in the face and more smiles than a happy face tee shirt factory. Do not, I repeat, do not, let defeat enter into our minds. The Twins story is the best in all of baseball this year. Everyone, except Yankee fans, will be pulling for the Twins to beat the pinstripes. Positive thoughts only.

There are only 5 of the 15 American League teams with winning records. One of them was a 100 loss team last year and will win 82-88 games this year. Maybe we could hire that team's Hall of Fame manager. Wait a minute...we already have that team's manager. In summary, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Great article.

Would Vielma have been the minor league "fielder of the year"...or in the top 5? Was a mistake made by letting him be claimed on waivers? Hasn't he been reported in this site as being the best fielding SS in the Twins' system? Since fielding is so important, especially at SS, would it be possible and/or provable to rate the minor league fielders?

Noooooooooo! Positive thoughts only. These thoughts soar through the air all the way to the Twins' players' minds. I think I can, I think I can becomes I knew I could, I knew I could..

For now I'll make a compromise and just agree not to read Souhan. I'm going camping in the North Carolina mountains this weekend and will have some time to think about whether my not reading Souhan is the answer or whether I should read his columns and continually find myself foaming at the mouth at the conclusion which sometimes results in my writing comments which are not kind and which make me feel mean. I need to chill out and relax more.

Will Rogers got it right when he said: "All I know I read in the papers, and that is an alibi for my ignorance".

Imagine for a moment, if you will, that you are a player for the Twins. I wonder how much "truth" you'd give to a sportswriter. If I were a dejected player sitting in the clubhouse after a tough loss, and were asked a tough question about my bonehead play that just lost a game for my teammates in a pennant race, or an injured 24 year old who is feeling that by being injured, he is letting his teammates and his family down, or an aging veteran who is fighting to keep from being embarrassed by being released, the last thing I would want to do is have a heart to heart talk with my "friend" the sportswriter. How many of us have been quoted incorrectly or out of context in a newspaper or read a newspaper account of something in which we participated, only to read an incorrect account of what really happened? When that happens to a player, and it will, the players become guarded. Misquote me once, shame on you. Misquote me twice, shame on me. Access does not = truth.

Let's just agree to disagree on this one. Peace brother.

Good article about a good man.

Seth, I like to think of myself as an educated person. I have 2 college degrees and 7 years of college. I have written most of my life. I enjoy reading. I have had 7 of my poems published. I won the Southern Prize for Literature in 1995 for my poem, "The Flak Jacket". Two of my closest friends are professors of creative writing...one at Appalachian State University (Pirates' fan) and one at Harvard (Red Sox fan). My son (Cardinals fan) is a minister, but he has a journalism degree from UNC and wrote sports for the university paper, The Daily Tar Heel. We all enjoy communicating about the writer's craft and we frequently share well written articles about baseball and life. Seth, I chose to read your writing daily. I appreciate your writing skills, but more than that, I like your personality, which is displayed in your writing. I quit reading Souhan several years ago because he always wrote with an ax to grind...his writing contained little happiness and joy. I believe Souhan feels it is his duty to criticize. For some reason, he feels he could better do the jobs of those whom he criticizes. Point of proof is his article criticizing sports writers who are not employed by Sports Illustrated or one of the soon to be extinct, daily newspapers. I guess if one watches baseball so he can criticize and be an arm chair quarterback, then one appreciates Souhan. That ain't me. I appreciate the timeless beauty of the game, the humanness of the players and the coming of spring when I read that the truck in snowy Minneapolis is being loaded with baseball bats, uniforms and catchers' masks, ready for its annual journey south to Ft. Myers. Seth, you understand that same type of beauty, the humanness of a minor leaguer struggling to keep playing, the "art" of writing. You write faithfully, beautifully and with feeling, while Souhan criticizes the manner in which the equipment was loaded onto the truck.

Two words: Ricky Nolasco. Case closed.

Sorry, but I did not like the blog format of the minor league games. I prefer the way you previously did the reports. You reporters are entertaining writers. The"reporting" format allows for more humor and an overall thoughtful evaluation the games and players. The snippet format of the blogs, takes that away. Thank you for this awesome website.

Garver or Giminez?

It wasn't all that long ago that many of these guys would have been drafted by a different draft - the US Army. I think the draft of 1942 was the greatest draft year ever, followed closely by the drafts of 1950 and 1967. I'm thankful we are not in a major killing war today and I'm thankful there are sufficient brave men and women who volunteer to defend our country. God bless all the draftees from the 40's, 50's and 60's and God bless our volunteers from all decades, including this decade.

Great stuff RB. Thanks.