Squirrel

I don't have all the info in front of me, so who am I to say ... but you'd think you'd want Mejia as comfortable as possible and wouldn't that be with the catcher he's most familiar with? But then, he could have worked some with Olson. It just seems like we're looking for that exactly perfect moment to get a new guy into the game, when I think, hey ... just throw him in and make him swim. But I'm not the one making the decisions based on the least amount of info.

Lol ... I had to get it out of my system for this one game!

I'm just messin' with you ... but games do get harder to watch when bringing into it everything else that is wrong. I'd rather forget what's around us for just these 3 hrs and watch a game. Yeah, yeah ... I know. We all know, actually.

Or this thread: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/30414-article-twins-daily-roundtable-sell-sell-sell/

Unless today's game and the events in today's game involves trades, you're better off having that discussion in this thread: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/30430-would-you-trade-eduardo-escobar/ Or this thread: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/30433-article-deadline-doesnt-make-deals-imminent-for-twins/

Oh, where to begin. Wish I could be cheery, upbeat and witty, but I'm not sure I know how anymore with how the Twins have been playing. This is truly NOT their year ... even if there is still a sliver of hope to beat out the Indians and make the playoffs ... this is just NOT their year. So many things wrong, so many things to think about. We can bemoan the roster, who's up, who isn't, who gets picked up, who gets let go; we can bemoan the manager and the decisions he makes; we can bemoan individual players and their production, or lack thereof; we can bemoan the coahces; we can bemoan the FO. There is lots there. That said and out of the way ... for this one game ... no need to drag all that into it. Each game is a new game. Just look at it in and of itself without all that stuff to bring it down. Each game is a new game. This is why I continue to watch (okay, truth be told, my watching has gone down significantly this year, but still), I continue to watch because it's baseball. And on any given day ... yes, any given day (and yes, I wish I knew which days were which ahead of time, but I don't) ... on any given day, the best can be the worst and the worst can be the best. Unless you are a team guaranteed to absolutely win every single game or lose every single game ... there's a reason to watch, because there are no guarantees of anything in baseball. There are high likelihoods, but no guarantees. And that is ... on any given day the best can be the worst and the worst can be the best. The player who is having a career worst year might still give you a career best day. The team who is playing their worst could pull it out for a really, great game. You never know ... so ... let's leave it all behind and take this game, this one game, in and of itself. That's why some of us continue to watch ... even if a little less so this season. Hopefully it's a day of surprises. Another reason to watch and why I like baseball, you just never know when you are going to see something you haven't seen before. Baseball is just weird like that. There's always a play that has you scratching your head wondering ... 'What the heck just happened there?' in a good, amazed way. Or an obscure rule comes into play and you start searching the internet to understand why a particular call was made, because, hey ... I didn't know that. Whattaya know? In baseball there always seems to be something knew to learn and something new to see. But, you have to watch to see. Okay ... you could read about it in Tom's post-game write ups or in highlight clips of the game after ... but it isn't the same as seeing it in real time and not as a replay or rerun. Now, for today. Cubs. Most peole who know me know what I think of Wrigley and Cubs fans. My general response is 'Ugh' to both. Heh. Sorry, but I am a Wrigley hater. I haven't been in every stadium, not even most, but I know enough about Wrigley to know, yuck. Yes, it's the most iconic stadium in all of baseball, from the sign on the outside to the ivy on the inside. It is 'the good ol' days' iconic, down to the Chicago-style hot dogs (if you like them with all that goop on them - I don't). But unless you manage to get a season ticket holder selling their seats, you are likely to have a seat where the sightlines are horrible. You are going to miss that great catch in the outfield, most likely, because yeah, bad sightlines. Or you could have the distinct pleasure of dodging a pillar all through the game and miss plays because you looked left instead of right or were switching left to right when the play happened. Don't get me started on the bathroom situation. Just hold it in, especially on ground floor. Ever seen a city rat? Yeah, Wrigley itself is ... Wrigley. And the fans? Diehard Cubs fans I take no issue with. They know their stuff. But the average Cubs fan is just a Cubs fan because, well, why not? They might know a couple names of players and that's about it. They don't know their team, they don't know their competition, they don't know the sport. They're just there for the beer, to get drunk, and to be seen getting drunk. They come during the 2nd inning and they leave by the 7th. No matter what. Just ... 'Ugh' to both. If I were forced to choose one Chicago baseball team or the other? I'd choose the White Sox ... that is how much I've grown to dislike the Cubs. (When I first moved here over 18 yrs ago, I'd have said the opposite. Just so you know ... this is based on years of first-hand experience.) Today's game ... I don't know what you're going to get ... didn't I already say that above? You are going to get a game. So sit back and watch. Adalberto Mejia is pitching for the Twins. He's been on fire in the minors over his last several starts. We'll see what he does up here against the Cubs. I've liked him in my short experience of him. He's not an ace, but I think he gets after it. And he's a lefty that gets after it. Hopefully he gives us something good to see. Pitching for the Cubs is Tyler Chatwood. I read this line - "Chatwood still leads the National League in walks" - and laughed. Normally I'd say/think, 'I hope the Twins can capitalize on that,' but ... wasn't but a couple of days ago when the Twins were given three walks to load the bases with no outs and didn't score? Oh, wait ... we aren't going to do that today. This game is THIS game, in and of itself. Let's not bring into it all our past woes. Because who knows what will happen. Anything can. On that note, here are today's lineups: TWINS Joe Mauer (L) 1B Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B Eddie Rosario (L) LF Brian Dozier (R ) 2B Max Kepler (L) RF Ehire Adrianza (S) SS Jake Cave (L) CF Bobby Wilson (R ) C - Hmm, surprised it's not Astudillo who worked with Mejia more recently, but, whatever. Adalberto Mejia (R ) P - wait, he's a lefty but bats rightie? Okay, then. CUBS Albert Almora (R ) CF Jason Heyward (L) RF Javier Baez (R ) 2B Anthony Rizzo (L) 1B Willson Contreras (R ) C Ben Zobrist (S) LF Addison Russell (R ) SS David Bote (R ) 3B Tyler Chatwood (R ) P One more note ... the temperatures in Chicago are ... dangerous. At game time it will be 94 deg F with a heat index of 108. It won't cool much during the course of the game, either. I wouldn't be surprised if in such a confined space, those numbers are higher. Those are the days I would most hate to be a catcher. Stay hydrated out there!! And play ball! Go Twins!

Yeah, they usually start at 1:20pm on Fridays. And I think I read somewhere that they are only allowed so many night games total, and included in that total are any nights Wrigley hosts concerts, so more concerts at night, fewer night games for the Cubs. It has something to do with businesses and traffic ... not really sure exactly what it is ... but the Cubs want more night games and the Mayor has pretty unequivocally said that increasing the number of night games isn't going to happen. They should just not use Wrigley to play in anymore and build a stadium with better accessibility.

I like these articles. Everyone gloms onto the 'big names' ... I like the sleeper stories.

Today is the first time there is a 4pm game at Wrigley on Friday. Because of ordinances, they don't have night games on Fridays. But because the Cubs were out in L.A. yesterday, to give them some extra time to 'recoup,' they pushed the usual Friday afternoon game as far back as they could and still comply with the ordinance about late games on Fridays.

Yeah, Thomas should never have been confirmed. And, actually, that was the Dems fault on that. That was Biden at the time who led that committee.

Oops, fixed it.

I think you got that title a little wrong. The date and time is off. It should read ‘6/28 @ 5:05am HK time (6/27 @ 4:05pm CT)’

I think you are taking this too personally when I was speaking generally. I wasn’t saying specifically that your arguments are disrespectful or you would have had a PM about it. I was talking of posters who jump to the assumptions I stated.

I don't disagree Sano has a lot to work on and figure out in several areas of his professional and personal life. And I have no issues with people taking certain stances in regards to what they think Sano needs to work on, including weight. I was willing to give him some time and a benefit of a doubt for a while because he's young and let's face it ... we all figure out the maturity thing in our own time ... and some never do. I've also seen him at ST for every year he's been there and at some minor league games along the way, too. He has always been larger than anyone else, even at times when he's looked quite solid. That said, we don't know what time and energies he has committed himself to in regards to his weight, or anything else for that matter. I don't think it's fair, respectable or funny to assume the worst and come out with the trough feeding/fatty/buffet/lazy/poor ethics comments based on what we see alone when we have no idea, really, what's going on. Of course we can draw conclusions and theorize and have opinions ... on either side of this debate. I, myself, took the path of giving him some leeway but that leeway is very short at present based on a lot of press over time and lack of production this season. But in our theories and opinions, if we can't present our takes respectfully ... and I'm not pointing at you when I say this, but everyone ... if we can't present it respectfully, it's not going to fly, here. And if we can't accept that while one might strongly believe in what one thinks, another might believe just as strongly in something else. I've often given the advice ... you aren't right or wrong here at TD. No one is. We are expressing what we think is or should be; there is no right or wrong in that, and there is no 'winning' the debate. There is, however, civility and respect in any issues any of us might bump heads about. Me disagreeing with you about Sano isn't 'push back,' it's me having a different opinion. We can go 'round and 'round and never meet in the middle, and that's okay. But at some point, agreeing to disagree is likely the best path. But name calling, dragging someone's character down, mean-spirited comments ... those should be avoided.

Everyone needs a release of something they like to do. I like to bake but I am far from ... and I mean far from ... being a pastry chef. I also like to dabble in other things and sometimes share the results with friends and whatnot and trust me, I am no artist and often laugh at my own results. And so what if these side endeavors won't win awards? Who cares if they aren't up to a professional standard? That's not the point of having a hobby. The point is having to do something you like to do, for fun, because it's fun for you. Not because you are trying to make some kind of statement of how good of an artist you are. Sheeeeesh ... tough crowd! I think Gordon has made it clear ... baseball is his career, and the rap thing is his hobby. Really ... why don't you show us what you do for fun and let us be extremely critical at how awful you are at it. Otherwise, knock it off.

Except we haven't come back yet ...

In hindsight plenty should have been done.

If you get a really good offer, yeah, I suppose. Hate to say that because Eddie has been one of my favorites for several years. I'd be really, really sad if he departed and there goes a big reason I even tune into some of the games these days.

Yeah, the pitching has been ... competitive ... this year. Which to me is saying it's been okay. It hasn't been our problem and what is our problem no one thought it would be our problem. If you have a chance to upgrade with one of those? I'd do it. Lynn is only on a one-year deal. Who knows really where Erv will be. While we have AAA depth, will all of them be plus starters in the majors? That said, we won't go after either of them.

Yeah, I don't think we have it takes to get Syndergaard, or rather, I don't think we give up what it would take to get Syndergaard. I bet the Yankees do, though. And they plan on buying on the FA market in the off-season so they'll be set for a while. We will say we tried, and we probably will try, but with offers that aren't even close to getting it done. And we'll get nothing.

Okay ... I know this says 'anything but Star Wars' ... but I just saw the first one, episode 4 ... with live orchestra. omg ... that. was. AMAZING! If you like movie soundtracks like I do, but especially one as iconic as this one by John Williams ... it was amazing to watch the movie with the soundtrack played by a live orchestra. If you have the opportunity to see it like that, do it! I know the Minnesota Orchestra does this ... so check it out. But nothing like the CSO Brass playing this one ... nothing like it.

I don't think we can recover with just the one side doing that.

Again ... my point was I didn't think this was a 'truth in the middle' situation. Either he did this or he didn't. Period. There is no middle ground on child molestation, no matter what degree it was. You trying to say something about the truth in the middle just didn't fly with me. That's all I was saying.

If they say the same thing, then be respectful in your posting here and don't go the disrespectful route. That was the pushback.

But it won't matter. The Dems aren't retaking the Senate and it's the Senate that votes on this.