PDX Twin

OK, so we are all disappointed at the Twins this year. But I really, really miss the daily routine of watching the Twins on MLB.TV. By mid-summer, my wife would ask "What time do the Twins lose today?" and I would humbly respond, before disappearing to my computer for a couple of hours. And I really miss the friendly banter of the Twins Daily game threads, even though I rarely felt like my own comments would add anything to the discussion. As the season ended, a card arrived in the mail yesterday from my Minneapolis brother. On the front of the card was a photo he took when we were at Target Field together this summer, which he captioned "From: The Best of the Twins, 2016 Highlight Reel." (And I hope it comes through as an attachment.) That kind of sums up the season, don't you think? There's a back story to this. My brother often went to games in the Metrodome (and took me a couple of times when I visited). But he was unhappy at the methods used to divert (his) tax money to the building of Target Field, so while he still remains a fan, he was unwilling to buy a ticket after they moved into their new home. As a result, he hadn't been to a game for many years. But when I visited in June this year, he agreed to get us tickets to a game. So we took the tram into the city on a sunny, hot Saturday and perched ourselves in the right-field stands to watch the Red Sox score 15 runs against the Twins' woe-be-gone pitching. We got to see Kyle Gibson's first game back from the DL, in which he narrowly missed getting the third out in the first inning on a dubious called ball-four and proceeded to fall behind 3-0 when he conceded a homerun to the next batter. (Seems like the story of the Twins' season, no? We almost got out of the inning, but there's a 3-spot on the board.) In the 9th, we got to see J. T. Chargois's MLB debut ... all two outs, three hits, two walks, and five runs of it. Somehow, that game was a fitting sampler from the Twins' 2016 menu. My brother has been an excellent amateur photographer for many years and he was snapping away throughout the game. If you knew him, it would not surprise you that the picture he chose to share with me didn't have a single player in it, just the hard-working crew who really did have an excellent year. Anyway, best wishes to all of the TD community. I look forward to your dialog during a better 2017 season!

A couple of questions on ages: Can Slegers really be 21 if he was drafted in 2013 after his junior year of college? He would have had to start college at 15. And if Rosario was drafted as a 16-year old in 2010, shouldn't that make him 22 now, not 24?

And somehow, Tyler Duffey has 9 wins, more than anyone else on this awful pitching staff, despite an ERA over 6.

What are you trying to do? Score?

Makes sense, with either Murphy or Garver to share time. Not a star, but we aren't going to get a star catcher anyway.

Wow, nice hit. I guess we don't have to worry about Santana doing a Harvey Haddix on us!

There's at least one other loser around, avoiding moving the contents of the kitchen cupboards and drawers back into the kitchen after the painters finished. There are worse things than watching a pathetic team get shafted by bad calls.

This could be the Rochester lineup with Dozier on injury rehab ...

Happy ending for once!

Rosario's? Three quarters of it was laudable. The last quarter ruined it all.

I love September games when teams actually have benches and can pinch-hit more than once or twice. How about rosters of 28? (Of course, the Twins would probably just have/need a pitching staff of 16.)

The down-side of pets...

Anybody else thinking about what might happen if Palka or Walker II were available to pinch hit?

Isn't Dan San on the DL?

Napoli would hit .150 if he didn't get to face the Twins.

Would it be astronomically outrageous to say that Herr Kepler might become a star?

Sano chance of that...

I don't want to jinx him, but after a dreadful start Sr. Santiago has given us some really nice innings tonight. I'm starting to feel more confidence in him than in Nolasco.

It's a problem for the Twins that there seems to be a glut of outstanding second-basemen right now. There are a lot of teams whose best player (or close to best) plays 2B. Altuve, Pedroia, Kipnes, Cano, Kinsler, are all excellent with the bat, and that's just the American League. Has there ever been a time with more outstanding offensive talent at this traditionally defensive position? It makes it hard to trade him when second base is a position of strength for so many trading partners.

There are about a dozen food-cart pods in Portland. They pay rent to the land-owners (who pay mortgages and taxes) and they pay (directly or indirectly) for their electricity and water. Given the unattractiveness of eating outdoors during Portland's 8 months of rain, I don't think the restaurants are feeling too threatened. Many of the food carts are run by aspiring young chefs straight out of culinary school. They are reviewed regularly in the local media. The best often then open brick-and-mortar restaurants. It kind of works like a "starter home" for the restaurant industry and seems to be very successful.

Thanks, Mike. Haven't been to a Hops game yet. I live on the east side and it's a long drive usually at a bad time of day ...

I remember Brito well from his Portland days! Civic Stadium, where the Beavers played, had a big blue version of the Green Monster. It was tailor-made for Brito's powerful uppercut right-handed swing. I even suggested that the concession stands start selling Bernardo Burritos! (Perhaps packaged with Hale Chips, in honor of 2B Chip Hale.) Those were fun days, going to games with a total attendance of a couple hundred in a stadium with a capacity of about 20,000 made me feel like a true die-hard. I used to sit in front of the scouts behind home plate and listen to their banter. You could actually hear the sarcastic comments of fans on the other side of the stadium. A different fan experience ...