formerly33

For some reason I thought non-mods/admins could only delete threads before five posts had been made. However, much to my delight I just discovered that I am fully capable of crashing the party on ya'll anytime I please.

Check.

Wut?! We actually talk about anything on game threads??

I don't recollect anyone saying the CSO was made up of entirely Cubs fans. In fact, I was always under the impression that it was mostly Sux.

No, no. It was Is my dear Chief.

Apparently her carrot cakes are better. Just ask any of her colleagues.

In that instance ... Is, my dear Chief. Is.

Are, my dear brother. Are.

Typical. From my observation, the more you win, the more pessimistic your fans are.

FTFY

Not to offend anyone, but you didn't miss much. Not that you got anything in the first place.

Didn't you hear? They've changed the rules. @Dbax24 tweeted "Guy in the stands next to me yesterday asked his buddy if the opposing pitcher struck out four in a row that inning. #weplay3inthisleague" (https://twitter.com/Dbax24/status/640920791861866497)

Booked.

Jay's season stats: W: 0 L: 1 ERA: 3.93 SV: 1 SVO: 1 IP: 18.1 H: 18 ER: 8 BB: 8 SO: 22 AVG: .247 WHIP: 1.42 And once and for all: Do. Not. Worry. About. Tyler. Jay's. Future. It's too early for that. This is a very small sample size we're looking at here, and in my opinion he has done nothing to justify the groundless fears of some Twins fans. Now, of course it's fine to worry; there's a time and place for worrying just as there is for anything and everything else (within reason), but this is neither the time nor the place. A few (and less important, especially since the minors are all about promoting guys, not winning the WS) stats don't look the way some expected them to, but other stats, particularly those that involve his Ks, are looking great. So ... relax ... take it easy.

Van Steensel's season stats: W: 2 L: 4 ERA: 2.32 SV: 13 SVO: 16 IP: 66.0 H: 53 ER: 17 BB: 32 SO: 81 AVG: .223 WHIP: 1.29 It's very odd, but my second favorite prospect (thanks to his entertaining tweets) has the same number of walks and strikeouts as my favorite. Go figure that out ... lol. Coincidences are funny things.

Baxendale's season stats: W: 7 L: 5 ERA: 3.80 IP: 118.1 H: 126 ER: 50 BB: 40 SO: 92 AVG: .273 WHIP: 1.40

Westphal's season stats - 2 teams (Fort Myers Miracle, Cedar Rapids Kernels): W: 6 L: 8 ERA: 2.74 IP: 95.1 H: 94 ER: 34 BB: 32 SO: 81 AVG: .263 WHIP: 1.32 Luke Westphal was quietly dominant for the Miracle this year; with his ERA of 2.76, he was one of four Miracle pitchers with sub-3.00 ERAs, ranking second only to Stephen Gonsalves and followed by Mat Batts and Aaron Slegers. He might not be the first guy that comes to mind when you're thinking about pitching prospects (though I may be wrong since I'm trying to decide this based on the probably unbiased populace's mind, whereas he's always the first one I think of), but he's inarguably in good company. I'm looking forward to following his career as a professional ballplayer, regardless of who he plays for and whatever the league. I'll always have a special place in my heart for my first ever AAP - the guy I chose because he wore number 33 and who turned out to have an awesome story to go with. And ... sniff, sniff ... now the season's over and I might never have the chance to update for him again.

Thanks, SwainZag! I'm surprised I never saw that before ... I guess I didn't look hard enough. If personalized jerseys didn't cost an arm and a leg (at least my arm and leg ... I'm sure that the value varies from person to person depending on what they're worth ... for instance, Bill Gates could probably pay for a jersey with less than his pinky toe nail shaving), I'd wear this customized jersey: And one day you guys would be watching the Twins game and see me catch one of Sano's bombs and then turn around to show the ball to my wildly jealous little brothers, and you'd be asking each other if that was our Always33.

Wednesday 9/9, 7:10 PM CT at Kauffman Stadium TV: FS-N; Radio: Go 96.3, TIBN Weather: Mostly clear, with a low around 64. East northeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight (I'm just going to go ahead and leave that in there in case we go into extras). Lineups: TWINS (71-67): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Mike Pelfrey (6-9, 4.17 ERA) ROYALS (83-55): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Kris Medlen (3-1, 4.88 ERA) This contention thing has proved to be too stressful for me. I used to always write the game threads at least a day in advance, and, in the case of the failed Chicken Dinnah attempt, a week or two before necessary, but today I am starting from scratch for the first time. It's a good thing too since I always start out with the intention of keeping the opening post short, but when they're sitting around for 24 hours or more, the temptation to add more proves to be too much. Here are your things to think about: 1. The playoff race -- And losing. After last night's loss to the Royals - and Seattle's loss to the Rangers - we find ourselves 2.5 games back from the 2nd wildcard spot ... still technically in the race, but I don't think we can do it. It hurts to be put yet another game back by the Royals. It hurts to give up 4 runs in the 1st inning and then have Gibby shut them down over the next 7 innings, throwing his first complete game. Does it count as a complete game though? or do you have to go 9 innings to qualify? 2. Mike Pelfrey -- Maybe he shouldn't be in the rotation at all anymore. Maybe he wouldn't be except for the fact that Duffey is going to be given a few extra days off instead of making what would have been his scheduled start on Saturday versus the White Sox. Maybe Molitor shouldn't be worrying about Duffey and should have put him out there against all odds. Or maybe he made the right choice given the situation and Ryan should be giving him better odds to work with. I won't even get into the argument of which minor league pitcher(s) should be up here; such discussions are better left outside of game threads. 3. Serena Williams -- We have a diehard Serena Williams fan on Twins Daily ... well, not diehard, as I suspect it's nothing more than the fact that she really wants to see a calendar grand slam, kind of like the way my sister really wanted American Pharaoh to win the triple crown this year and pretended that he'd been her favorite all along though I have authoritative evidence that she rooted for Dortmund in the run for the roses ... but if Serena was Chi's favorite 5, 10 years ago, I'm willing to cut her some slack. On the other hand, we have a diehard Serena Williams hater who either does not want to see a calendar year grand slam or else does not want to see ChiTown happy. And then we have me, who doesn't really care, though I'll root for Serena because I don't care either way but don't want to side with the TDite who's being an obvious troll. 4. Jerseys -- The Twins shop is a bit of a joke, as I assume are the Royals' and White Sox' and … well, maybe not the White Sox … but you get the idea. Say I want a shirt that says "Sano" on the back; the only way to get that is to buy a jersey. Those cost an arm and a leg, and to put it simply, I value both my arms and my legs and wouldn't want to sacrifice either of them, even for a Sano jersey. The only way I can get a player shirt is if I go with Mauer, and while I like him a lot … he is outdated. 5. Snails -- A couple years ago I opened the door in answer to a knock, expecting to see a random character campaigning for a local politician. It turned out that someone was playing ding dong ditch ... at least that's what I thought, because all I saw when I opened the door was a snail on the doorstep. I picked it up and threw it as far as I could. This morning I heard another knock on the door. I opened it again and there was that same snail. It looked up at me indignantly and said, "What the hell was that all about?"

His last four managerial seasons.

For Seth: http://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/it_sounds_like_the_tigers_are_going_to_hire_ron_gardenhire/s1_11033_19495948

Dinnah Yuck is right.

And Dozier walks out looking. Wait. That doesn't sound right. Dozier called out on balls. Wait ... that sounds off too. Somebody help!

And by the way ... ChiTown, happy? Or not until it's all the way all the way over?

I was just coming back to correct your ignorance and saw that you were in the process of correcting mine.