USAFChief

Kimbrel please, forthwith.

Technically not a hit and run, with two strikes. Just a guess on a splitter in the dirt and a good pitch to run on.

Man, tough to leave those runners at 3rd with less than 2 out.

Concur with longstrangetrip...Kuechel doesnt do a lot for me. Kimbrel, on the other hand, if healthy, makes a big difference in the pen.

Tough to stick with him. Just an easy out far too often.

Gibson just isnt mentally tough with runners on.

Win one yourself, Gibby.

NO HOME RUNS AGAIN!!1! THE OFFENSE HAS COLLAPSED!!!!!

I hear that a lot.

YOU ALL KNOW WHAT I MEANT! GEEZ!!!

This has been a fun week of baseball. Games that feel as if they matter, and the Twins are showing they can play with the big boys.

I feel the need to point out the home team is undefeated in games this particular poster has game thread started.

Back in my day, we didn't have 11 channels.

Hey...take it easy on the "Stringer is old" jokes. Stringer is aware of how old he is.

I can't believe it took so long for this to appear.

No, not to the death, to the PAIN!

"Good seats available! Just take your seat home when you leave."

"We're not in last place in the second half!"

huh?

"You're guaranteed to see a major league baseball team!"

Welcome to today’s game thread. I’m your host, USAFChief. Here's a recent photo: For those of you who have been around a while, you might remember me (along with Carole) as the keeper of the game thread duty log. Well, Stringer Bell was gracious enough to volunteer this year, and wouldn’t you know it, he immediately pulls rank and assigns me today’s game thread. Thanks for nothin’. Tonight, the Twins kick off a three game series vs the Tampa Bay Rays. So here goes, in honor of RiverBrian’s time honored “Five things” format. For those of you who have been around a while, you might remember RB. Back in the early days of TD, he used to do all the game thread intro’s, as far back as the “Senators Daily” days. Odd fact: He is credited with coming up with the Washington team's official slogan: “First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.” Five things: 1. The Tampa Bay Rays do not actually play in Tampa Bay, oddly enough. They play in St Petersburg, which according to Wikipedia is the second largest city in Russia. The city was named after a saint, naturally…Saint Petersburg. Saint Petersburg (the city, not the saint) was later renamed Leningrad, to honor the Beatles lead singer after his tragic death near his apartment in the Dakotas. 2. The Rays play in something called Tropicana Field, which was originally called The Suncoast Dome. The Suncoast Dome was built in 1990, in hopes of attracting a major league team. That never happened, and they had to settle for the Devil Rays, who arrived in 1998. Odd fact: There have been fewer rainouts at “the Trop” than even Anaheim. So there’s a good chance they get tonight’s game in. 3. The Rays fancy themselves at the cutting edge of current baseball theory. They invented the “opener,” which is universally loved and admired here at TD, and they were in the forefront of the recent shifting trend. They will even occasionally employ a four man outfield as pictured here. That in and of itself isn’t entirely new, but notice they also shifted all 50 some-odd fans in attendance from their seats near the infield to the outfield seats, the better with which to toss opposing bombas back onto the field pronto. 5. The Rays mascot is something of undetermined kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species named “Raymond.” Raymond is a bit more…edgy than Twins fans familiar with TC Bear might be used to. Here is Raymond after the death of Australian TV personality Steve Irwin: I believe all the lawsuits were settled quietly out of court. And here he is just prior to hilariously pulling down the speedos worn by former MLB player and current KC broadcaster Rex Hudler, after Hudler dove from the famous D ring rafters into the manta ray pond/swimming pool/septic tank located in the stadium: http://ttt-suweb.newscyclecloud.com/storyimage/SU/20150714/ARTICLE/150719977/AR/0/AR-150719977.jpg?MaxW=950&cachebuster=798039 Multiple lawsuits from multiple sources are working their way through multiple court systems. Oh, and one more thing:

I would imagine Littel's reward for eating innings tonight is a ticket back to Rochester. Hopefully anyway. The last guy in the bullpen needs to be available to have any value at all, and he's not available for a couple days now. Also, I checked the MLB rules, and confirmed tonight's game counts as only one loss.

My guess is Littell's reward for eating innings tonight is a ticket back to Rochester.

Sheesh, my boss is such a grouch. He calls me into his office yesterday and just starts yelling at me. "You're late. It's the third time this WEEK you've been late. What do you have to say for yourself? Does this mean ANYthing to you??" "Uh....welll...it's only Wednesday?"

or even in Pacific time?