John Bonnes

This Thursday night, from 5-8, there is a unique and fairly intimate Twins event going on that I want to let you all know about. Tix for Tots and the Twins are co-hosting a fundraiser to help Tix for Tots distribute unused tickets from all over the Twin Cities to underprivileged kids. REGISTER HERE It'll have four of your favorite things: Twins - The event is in Located in the Metropolitan Club at our favorite hangout…Target Field. It will include an opportunity to talk Twins with Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, KFAN'S "Twins Geek" John Bonnes and noted Minnesota baseball historian Stew Thornley. The exclusive Q&A format allows attendees to ask those burning questions they most want answered. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Food/Drink - Fabulous appetizer spread throughout the evening. Also featured is a complimentary wine tasting featuring wines from St. Michelle Winery. There is also a cash bar. Cool Stuff - We have a very nice silent auction with a blend of affordable and exclusive items. Included are a suite for a Twins game in 2012, Batting Practice buddy for a youth at a Twins game, signed memorabilia from the Twins, Vikings, Wild and Timberwolves, vacations, and more… Doing Good - Proceeds of this event support Tix for Tots, a local nonprofit organization that has provided over 125,000 ticket opportunities to see the Twins alone since 2001. Over 350,000 total tickets have been provided to children in need since inception, valued in excess of $2 million. Through these tickets, kids have seen sporting events, concerts, theater, museums and a variety of other performances. These experiences provide hope, inspiration and an sometimes just an escape for kids dealing with a host of issues that impact their present and future. REGISTER HERE I've worked with Tix for Tots since their inception, and can assure you that they are a lean, volunteer-based organization that provide an escape to kids that can be in some pretty dark places. Plus, it's going to be a great event, giving you an opportunity for a heck of a date night or a memorable evening with friends.

In which Aaron and John take the podcast to the radio with their KFAN debut and talk about Clete Thomas' big first impression, Ben Revere's demotion to Triple-A, what the rotation looks like after injuries to Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn, why Liam Hendriks is sticking around, what the future holds for Francisco Liriano and Alexi Casilla and what Delmon Young and porn have in common. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes (where you can also subscribe and leave reviews) and our new sponsors: KFAN & Pickpointz. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Pearson's Salted Nut Rolls are available at Target Field, and to celebrate, Pearson's is offering a case of their iconic candy to one of Twins Daily's members! It's easy. You CLICK ON THIS CONTEST PAGE and fill out answers to the six Twins trivia questions. It's only available to Twins Daily members. On Monday the 16th, we'll find all members with ALL the answers right and select one at random. We'll contact the winner and Pearson's will send them a case of Salted Nut Rolls. (It's absolutely killing The Voice of Reason that I won't let her enter.) [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Pearson's is offering this because they're so excited that their King Size Salted Nut Roll is the first non-licorice candy to be sold by hawkers at Target Field. During the month of April, in-seat vendors (aka hawkers) will sell Salted Nut Rolls at home games. If successful during the April test, hawkers stadium-wide will sell the Pearson's King Size Salted Nut Roll for the entire 2012 season. The Pearson's Salted Nut Roll can be found at concessions areas throughout the concourse all year long as well. Enjoy, everyone! (And let me know if you want to share!)

The Twins won their first game of the season last night as their bats defeated Jared Weaver, the Los Angeles Angels, and the Twins own defense by a score of 6-5. It was a victory not just for the players on the field, but for the front office and coaching staff, as it finally validated decisions they had made throughout the offseason and spring training. Those decisions, contrary to the popular view of the Twins as a fundamentally sound team, have emphasized scoring runs over solid baseball. Tonight, they were proved right. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]For instance, the Twins signed 38-year-old career utility infielder Jamey Carroll to handle the premier defensive position of shortstop. To be sure, he was an upgrade defensively over last year's primary shortstop, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, but so were most bipeds with opposable thumbs. (With the possible exception of Trevor Plouffe.) But Carroll was signed for a much bigger financial commitment than several other significantly better fielders because of his ability to get on base. Tonight, after a frustrating start of the season in which Carroll was hitless, that decision bore fruit. On the one hand, he let a throw from Denard Span get past him that led to the fifth Angels run of the ball game, because the ball had the gaul to bounce before it got to him. But he more than made up for that gaffe with two huge hits. The first, a double, led to the Twins first run of the game and started a 3-run inning. The second, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, plated the winning run. The biggest decision the Twins made during spring training involved realigning the outfield defensively. It benched defensive ... oh, let's go with "specialist" over "messiah" because it'e more conventional ... Ben Revere. But it added breakthrough rookie Chris Parmelee to the roster and moved slugger Josh Willingham to left field, where he felt more comfortable. He didn't look very comfortable there in the fifth inning. With two outs, a hard-hit but catchable ball was hit to the wall in left field. Willingham missed it painfully, crashing into the wall. That resulted in a three-run inside-the-park home run that blew the Twins first and only lead of the season and gave the Angels a 4-3 edge. But Willingham had looked downright cozy a half inning earlier. That's when he turned on a Jared Weaver pitch to break the 1-1 tie with a 2-run blast that gave the Twins their first and only lead of the season. He also just missed another extra base blast in his next at-bat when it drifted foul by a couple of feet. Note to Twins management and batting instructors: it might just be that pull hitting is desirable at Target Field. That sequence - giving up three, adding two - would still leave Willingham and the Twins' sprinf realignment in the red if not for the other beneficiary of the outfield shifting, Chris Parmelee. Down by two runs and facing a southpaw that was specifically brought in to pitch to him, Parmelee drilled a ground ball down the first base line where Albert Pujols was fortunately not holding a runner, because there were two men on base. The hit plated the two tying runs and Parmelee took third base when Torii Hunter awkwardly fell into the right field base line wall. Parmelee later scored the winning run on Carroll's hit. Hot bats from three newcomers, none of which necessarily exemplify the Twins defensive ideal, won this game. While some Twins defensive issues basically cost them five preventable runs, perhaps defense is something upon which this team can improve. They'll likely need to, but they didn't need to tonight.

Aaron and John share some exciting news about the podcast and the unexciting news surrounding the Twins 0-4 start. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes (where you can also subscribe and leave reviews) our new sponsors: KFAN & Pickpointz.

92.5 – The “over/under” estimate from casinos on the number of games the Angels will win this year. That’s the highest number of any team in the AL West. 73 - The “over/under” estimate from casinos on the number of games the Twins will win this year. Offseason 317,500,000 – The dollars the Angels guaranteed to pitcher CJ Wilson and slugger Albert Pujols when they signed them this offseason. 154,000,000 – USAToday’s computation of the Angels payroll this year, 4th most in MLB. It is $61M more than the Twins. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] In The Dugout 12 – Years in which Mike Scioscia has managed the Angels. +188 – How far over .500 Scioscia has been as a coach in those 12 years. By comparison, Ron Gardenhire is +109 in 11 seasons. 9 – Years in which Scioscia has received at least one Manager of the Year vote. 75 – The least number of games a Scioscia team has ever won. That was back in 2001. On The Hill This Series 7th – Where Dan Haren, who is scheduled to pitch the 3rd game versus the Twins, finished in American League Cy Young voting last year. 6th - Where CJ Wilson, who is scheduled to pitch the 1st game versus the Twins, finished in American League Cy Young voting last year. 2nd - Where Jered Weaver, who is scheduled to pitch the 2nd game versus the Twins, finished in American League Cy Young voting last year. Phat Albert 11 – Seasons Albert Pujols has been in the majors. 10 – Seasons in which Pujols has been a top 5 finisher in MVP voting. In 2007, a year in which he hit a career low 32 home runs, he slipped to ninth. 7 – Seasons in which Pujuls has either won the MVP award or been the runner up.

More Twins talk on the radio! I’m pleased to announce that KFAN 100.3 and Pickpointz are teaming up to broadcast the Gleeman and the Geek show Sundays from 4-5 PM starting Sunday April 15th. Based on the record-breaking weekly podcast, hosts Aaron Gleeman and John “Twins Geek” Bonnes will dissect the minutia of the games, relate minor league news, evaluate front office decisions and prognosticate the results of the upcoming week for their Pickpointz competition. In addition, they’ll tack on an extra half-hour “unplugged” to the show’s podcast, which you’ll be able to download from KFAN.com or on iTunes. PLEASE tune into KFAN 100.3 FM Sunday from 4-5 and let us know what you think! [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

I know this comes as a shock to a lot of you, but I like to eat. And drink. And I like baseball. And especially outdoor baseball. So when I find out there is a Food Preview at my favorite outdoor baseball park, there is roughly a 3050% chance the I'm going to be there, with or without access. That's how yesterday played out, but I was conscientious enough to at least tweet about it and take a bunch of pictures. Let's roll through them and you can pick out for yourself what you're craving this year at the ballpark... [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Buckle up kids! Its time for #Twins #TweetNEat! First up: BUFFALO MAN N CHEESE! Talk about a leadoff hitter! This was the dish I was most excited about at the ballpark and it ended up being the first one served. I loved it, however, The Voice Of Reason thought it was too oniony. I agree, actually, but I love onions, so it still ranked near the top of my list. New Hrbeks Sloppy Joe = Chris Parmelee. Not high end, but surprisingly good, solid. It turns out is was a BACON Sloppy Joe and it was, hand down on both our lists, the best new item at the ballpark. I can only hope for as much from Parmelee. The next picture and tweet speak for themselves: Have you ever seen anything so beautiful in all your life? #Surly Yes, Surly will now be served at Target Field. So will Fulton's Sweet Child of Vine. I'm thrilled by this, but for the record, this is still only ranks as "a good start." The Twin Cities has half a dozen great micro-breweries, and I would LOVE for the Twins to be a bit of an ambassador for them. Considering the sponsorships that major breweries can produce, that's probably a bit pie-in-the-sky. But this is a huge step in the right direction. BTW, they had Cynic and Bender on tap when I was there. I don't know what they'll have on tap during game - I just forgot to ask. That's my bad, because they NEED Furious on tap. For when you want to walk. But you also want a taco. That was for the "Walk A Taco." What can I say? It was good. If you're looking for authentic Mexican, it's probably not what you're looking for. But if you're looking for authentic Mexican, why the hell are you ordering something called a "Walk A Taco?" I anticipate I will have these again before the year is over. Again, Have you ever seen anything so beautiful.... Yeah, these Garlic Fries alienate the poor people sitting next to you, but I, for one, am not going to care. These were awesome. As in, better-than-the-State-Fair awesome. My second favorite food. Baked potatoes the size of a beef football. #Twins #TweetNEat http://pic.twitter.com/UXXUO4XL Somehow, I lost this picture so I can't show it to you here, but you can click on the link. That's like a 20 oz cup next to them. Suffice to say, you will not be disappointed in the size of the baked potatoes. By the way, my view of baked potatoes is that they're nothing more than a vehicle for the stuff you put on them. And the Twins have four varieties that include all kinds of bad stuff for you. I'm not a pickle guy, but I'm getting a big thumbs up on the new fried pickles The Voice of Reason is a pickle person, and loved them. But at $7.50 per, she's not sure she's going to be able to justify them. Mini donuts this year are from SuperMoms? I'm not sure I approve. #IWantHotNGreasy #notaeuphamism #MaybeALittle If they're just rebranding the mini-donuts, fine. But if this means I'm getting my mini-donuts out of some pre-baked kitchen, I'm going to go all Bruce Banner on this decision. New Minneapolis Millers shirts! #Approved Also good news for Washburn kids! A) I love these shirts. Just as one of the Minneapolis Public High Schools is rising like a Phoenix from the ashes, they also accidentally get a line of designer shirts? Go Millers! I sure hope @anneursu / @batgirl is getting some royalties for these. If you don't get this tweet, I'm sorry. You missed it. It was like Camelot. And you missed it. Vegetarians will want to check out the @LeeAnn Asian wok. (Carnivores too.) If you're a fan of the Asian Wok that has been at Target Field, don't despair. It's still there. It appears that it was just rebranded. If you aren't, you should try it, especially if you're looking for a little spice to your food. It's been sort of a secret go-to food of mine for the last couple of years. A 10 oz meatball stuffed with cheese. #NeedISayMore? OK, I'll say more. They're baseball-sized, meatloaf consistency and have a golf-ball of cheese in the middle. You won't go home hungry if you have one of these. They were basically the grand finale of the concourse tour and I heard a lot of raves about them. I liked it a lot, but it didn't end up in my top 5. Now THAT'S a party favor. #Twins pubs are becoming the @2gingerswhiskey pubs. I'm not a whiskey guy. But if you are, I would think you would like hanging out at what used to be the Twins Pubs. And I approve of anyone that gives me free alchohol. @fultonbeer Sweet Child Of Vine will be served in Townball Pub! #TweetNEat #Twins http://pic.twitter.com/nV120xoa I raved about this beer in Twitter just a couple of weeks ago when I was fortunate enough to find it at the Auto Show. It's another step in the right direction. It's called Ice Cream Lava "for Two." And if the "two" are both 3rd world nations, they're right. I don't know that this picture does justice to just how large this thing is. It's about the size of a volleyball. I don't know if that's actually going to be the size that they serve, but if it is.... ...and I mean this as a compliment.... I don't think I'll be able to eat one by myself. Nothing says "ballpark food" like calamari and panko crusted zucchini. #Twins #TweetNEat I don't know what panko is, but from now on I want all my zucchini to be crusted with it. #Twins #TweetNEat Twitter was kind enough to inform me that panko are tiny Japanese bread crumbs. Whatever. If they can make a gourd vegetable taste like that, they need a lot better name. In summary, I think you're going to like a fair amount of the new food (and beer) that Target Field has to offer. The baseball might just become a secondary offer. But probably not.

Pioneer Press sports reporter Ben Goessling joins Aaron and John to talk about the Twins final roster decision and media access. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes (where you can also subscribe and leave reviews).