Squirrel

I have the Cleveland feed here, so no Dick and Smalley for me.

That was not on Suzuki, I don't think. Not so nice play for Santana on that one.

Heh, is that a baby Dozier? And Santana ... NICE play, just really NICE!

I edited the OP lineups to reflect the actual vs the intended.

He was at a memorial service for his grandfather and his plane didn't get him back to Cleveland on time.

Both. Winston has me pegged just right. Edit: Did it again. Yes.

Uh oh ... cmon Trevor, pull it together.

My guess is we'll see him out there before he is sent down. Just haven't gotten to it yet.

Yup ... I'm a Hawks fan, sort of ... mostly just to poke at all the Wild and Jets fans!

I'll double check ... thanks for the heads up!

Sorry for the length ... I was really intending to go with brevity, but, history just isn't brief!

The first ever game thread on Twins Daily was posted by Seth on Feb. 29, 2012. It was for a 'B game' scrimmage against the Red Sox happening the next day. The original post wasn't a tribute to the local college's creative writing course; nor was it an in-depth analysis covering every statistic in every corner, with charts, graphs and video; nor was it the 'ponderings' of someone who missed his calling in comedy. It was more 'Here's who will be starting today.' It wasn't even a lineup, just who we were going to see in the game. Thus were the simple and humble beginnings of the game thread. The game threads continued into the regular season. When I saw in the archives the Opening Day game thread for that year, I thought, 'Well, okay, here's where it really began.' All that was there was 'This is the announced Twins lineup; the O's will trot out this.' And the O's portion was just a link, not a typed-out list. There was a brief bit about the opposing pitcher and that was it. The most excitement in the post was the title, where Parker used 3 exclamation points. Yes, three, count 'em, three!!! The regular season went on with much of the same. Just the lineups. Not even the weather. Occasionally there was a tidbit or an aside or even a 'Go Twins!' thrown in. Seth started most of them in that early era, but there were occasional threads started by Parker or Nick or other members. Even Chief started one. Oddly, his was the only one that didn't follow the format. Instead of the thread title reading 'Game #X, Twins vs Other Team, Date,' his went 'Date, Game #X, Twins vs Other team.' A military man breaking format? Hmmm. And glunn started a thread or two. The one that caught my eye, and really made me laugh to be honest, was the one started with this in the OP: 'Where is Seth?' That was it. Really Glunn, you couldn't even name one starting pitcher? Then Brock took over late that June. I'd say that that's where the tide turned a bit and game threads became more formalized. Now there was a game time listed in the thread titles. Gone was the 'Game #X' and the titles are more what we see today. But the body, pretty much the same. 'Here are the lineups.' There were articles being written for a time to introduce each series and a link included in the first of the game threads for that series. This went on into the next season until Brian finally took over. Brian wasn't always the thinker we know him to be today. It took him a few game threads to get into his groove. His very first game thread start of June 23, 2013 said this: 'So let's get one of these started How about that. I made a sticky… I'm powerful now!' At least he had enough excitement for the job to use an exclamation point! However, there were no lineups, no weather, no 'things to think about,' nothing about the game whatsoever. It was stringer who provided lineups in the very next post. (Thank you, stringer.) Brian's next game thread was on July 11, 2013. Boasting even more confidence, he got in the lineup. Yes, lineup; singular. He posted the opposing team's lineup, but not the Twins'. His third game thread came complete with both lineups and a little commentary, so now he was on a roll. And the fourth had his first 'things to think about' list. This was it: 1. Let's think about Arcia on the bench. He needs to sit after 11 K's in the past 3 games and failing to break a bat over his knee in frustration.
 2. Let's think about this Yankees lineup. If the Yankees lineup was ours. We'd complain about it. 
3. Let's think about Sam Deduno... OK... Just a quick thought about Sam... Now move on to #4
 4. Let's think about Phil Hughes... The Yankees are trying to trade him. We can help them get less for him.
 5. Let's think about the well fed children of the world... The Starving Children are the ones always talked about and rightly so... But for one day out of 365... Let's think about the well fed children so they know they matter. July 13th is as good a day as any. So, what's the point in this history lesson, you wonder, eyes glazed over? It's to point out that not all game thread starts are created equal, nor should be. Some are novellas, some are filled with all sorts of analysis, some have the 'ponderings' of a crazy man, and some will be short and sweet with just the facts. It's okay to follow the evolutionary path, but it's also okay to honor the past. All are good and all are welcome … and Chief's inbox is clear and waiting for you to sign up and do yours. The commonality in game threads isn't in the start anyway but in the posts that follow … a bunch of fans coming together to watch and comment on the game. But please, leave the beach balls and 'the wave' somewhere else. (I really dislike those things at games!) And, finally, my musings for todays game: Here are the lineups. TWINS:
 Dozier 2B Hunter DH Mauer 1B Suzuki C Escobar LF Rosario RF Bernier 3B Schafer CF Santana SS May P INDIANS:
 Kipnis 2B Santana 1B Brantley LF Chisenhall 3B Murphy RF Swisher DH Bourn CF Perez C Walters SS 
Salazar P Game-time forecast: 78 deg F, mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms, winds from the SW at 8mph Oh, and Go Twins! Play ball!

Seriously ... you don't need to rethink either. I am not going to make this like a 'real job' because I already have one of those.

Don't be hasty. Wait until you see mine tomorrow.

I'll take Florida over Arizona ... gators, for the most part, keep their distance (despite media stores that imply otherwise); and, you can spot a gator where it shouldn't be much more quickly than you would a snake. I have nearly stepped on snakes many times right outside my parents front/back door; I've never nearly stepped on a gator. Although the snakes I've almost stepped on in Florida aren't quite as venomous as a rattler, but still ... heart attack inducing either way.

Yes.

Btw, I got home from work last night just in time to see the Hawks win ... sorry Wild fans, but go Hawks!

I think I recall you telling me that story. And I think I recall being thankful I wasn't there to witness it.

You need to work on that.

Is this the one where you lost your shorts on the big slide?

That's even worse! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Bark NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Actually, I would pay money to see you guys at water park. Even if it's in Brian's bathroom.

Yeah, it gets mentioned by every crew announcing the game when he pitches.

Bark, you have free will. So quit doing everything Brian tells you to do.

Brian, the art of compromise is important in marriage. So do both.