Squirrel

Kind of waiting for the inevitable ... was 1-0 Twins, now it's 1-1 ... might go higher before the inning is over ...

I'm seriously asking ... what is timely? I don't think 3-4 hrs prior to the game is something to be considered amiss for a manager, but then maybe it is? It seems fine to me despite some impatience to want it as early as possible. And since I do put up the lineups most days, I don't think the Twins lineups appear all that much later than everyone else's and often at the same time or earlier.

Yes.

Yeah ... so? I mean, really ... when is the optimal time for him to post lineups to suit everyone?

This thread is starting to get personal. Please tone down the jabs and the 'know it all' tones and discuss.

Why should he post his lineups any sooner than he does? Three hours isn't enough time? Not sure why it's a problem, if it's a problem.

or something ...

Game-time forecast: Sunny. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 75. Twins: SP, Pino Santana SS Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Willingham LF Morales DH Arcia RF Escobar 3B Fryer C Fuld CF Angels: SP, Richards Calhoun RF Trout C Pujols 1B Hamilton LF Aybar SS Kendrick 2B Cron DH Green 3B Iannetta C -------------------------------------- Okay ... time for Brian's thoughts ... please wait patiently. He doesn't like impatience. I found that out and was called out for it. So please be patient. ------------------------------------- I scream C'MON!!! at the Microwave... I don't have all second. Things to Think About: 1. Garrett Richards -- Another local boy from Riverside California... Kinda Local anyway... Riverside is just down the road from Anaheim part of Southern California Region called the Inland Empire. Which is a grandiose term for Citrus Trees in the shadow of the City of Angels. He's 26 years old and was undrafted out of high school but he went on to play ball for the University of Oklahoma and became a pitcher worthy of a 42nd pick overall in the 2009 draft. He made his MLB Debut in 2011 and got hit around for awhile but has just gotten a little better each year until the light switch came on this year. Here we are in 2014 and he's become a top notch starter with a 2.55 ERA. I haven't seen him throw this year... I've only seen him unimpressively in years past. Based on his current numbers... It's obvious that he has been to the crossroads and sold his soul to the devil. 2. 7R/2IP -- I think we expected that Kyle Gibson's scoreless inning streak would come to an end sooner rather than later... However... I can't say that I expected to blow up in his hand like he forgot to throw the hand grenade after pulling the pin. 3. Finally a Home Run -- We've been waiting for Kendrys Morales to a hit a home run in a Twins uniform and yesterday he delivered. I think he was waiting on purpose for his trip to Anaheim to deliver it in front of his ex-employers. So therefore... I think he has another one in him tonight. 4. College World Series -- I'm gonna have to watch Vanderbilt vs. Virginia because it's historic... I think it's the first time that two colleges that start with the letter "V" have ever competed for a baseball championship. No I didn't research it... I'm just assuming. 5. Sleep -- As someone who lives in the Central Time Zone... I can't figure out who bugs me more... People who live in the Eastern Time Zone of the Pacific Time Zone. The people in the eastern time zone always schedule conference calls for 1PM local time and therefore I'm giving up my lunch. However... The West Coast... And these games ending at 12 Midnight Central time is a pain for an old guy like me. I bring this up because I fell asleep last night with the game on... I woke up... the game was over and my son was sitting on the coach laughing at me. "Couldn't make it through to the end of the game... Could Ya Dad". I guess I'm gonna have to have a late night cup of coffee tonight. Or... a Red Bull or something. .

The bunny is cute, but for a rally emblem, I like this best.

I'll give you mine then, since I don't drink.

And it's 5 times as good if you have it in Italy.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FVU9p4FstGs/TzQsFmA5z5I/AAAAAAAADBc/ADFc44TCV68/s1600/talenti+chocolate+peanut+butter+cup+gelato+pint.jpg

Game-time forecast: Mostly sunny. Winds blowing out to right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature near 70. (No worries about rain delays with this series as it never rains in Southern California! ... starting Brian off right ... ) Twins: SP, Gibson Santana SS Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Willingham LF Morales DH Suzuki C Parmelee RF Escobar 3B Fuld CF Angels: SP, Wilson Calhoun RF Trout CF Pujols 1B Hamilton LF Aybar SS Kendrick 2B Cron DH Freese 3B Conger C ------------------------------------------ Brian ... your turn ... think, man, T H I N K! (the queen has spoken) ------------------------------------------ And to you I curtsy... I'll admit a curtsy doesn't feel all that manly. Things to Think About: 1. Anaheim -- Anaheim... Umm... Los Angeles... I find the whole situation awfully confusing. The Angels are clearly located in Anaheim yet greedily... They want to be known as the Los Angeles Angels. In the hope that they fool actual residents of L.A. that they have another team to cheer for. Anaheim is southwest of Los Angeles... L.A. has grown to the point that it has swallowed up Anaheim. It has no choice but to grow that direction because mountains block it to the north and a rather large ocean blocks it to the west. 10 years from now... The gap between San Clemente and Oceanside will be filled in and the Padres will be calling themselves the Los Angeles Padres. Pretty Soon Palm Springs and the Salton Sea will all be part of the Los Angeles Metro. Anaheim was built as a place to put theme parks. Anaheim in Spanish means "Wait in Line... just like you are at the DMV". People who tire of the ocean breezes and constant comfortable temps of L.A. have flocked toward the desert like heat of Anaheim and stayed because it's easier to find a parking space. It's the largest city in Orange County... Which the Locals just call the OC... Because "Orange" and "County" simply takes too much time to say. 2. The Angels -- I'm never sure what to think of the Angels... They like to make big splashy free agent signings only to watch them underperform. Pujols has not been the same since signing with them. Hamilton can't stay healthy for more than 3 games in a row. Currently they are sitting in 2nd place... 5 games behind the Oakland A's... with the Mariners right on their tail. The Combination of Trout, Pujols and Hamilton batting 2 3 and 4 will make any pitcher sit up straight and pay attention... but will the rest of the team scare anyone? Umm... Not really. The starting pitching has a couple of big name arms in Weaver and Wilson and Garrett Richards seems to have arrived. It was decreed that the rest of the starting pitching staff has last names that start with "S". The Bullpen is mess!!! 3. C.J. Wilson -- 33 Years old and a local boy from Fountain Valley California in the OC. He played ball for Loyala Marymount and was drafted by the Rangers in the 5th round of the 2001 draft. When he joined the Rangers... he was a bullpen arm. He converted to starting in 2010 and had such a good year that he signed with the Angels as a Free Agent for 5 Years and 75 Million in December 2011. He is a Taoist which means that he isn't any fun to party with. He races cars and he owns a few car dealerships in Illinois and California. He throws a variety of fastballs and mixes in a few breaking pitches. When he's going good... He can come at you pretty confidently. 4. Kyle Gibson -- The Streak... It's all about the streak... 22 straight scoreless innings... 31 out of his last 33 innings scoreless. I'd love to see him stretch this thing out. MLB Network might even mention it eventually. 5. Infinite Monkey Theorem -- If you put an infinite number of monkeys in a room with an infinite number of typewriters with an infinite amount of time... eventually one of the monkeys will produce Shakespeare. I set out to test this theorem but... sadly due to budget issues... I could only afford two monkeys and two typewriters for a total of two days. My staff and I ran the test anyway and here are the results. One Monkey didn't touch a typewriter at all. The other Monkey smashed the hell out of one typewriter and on the other typewriter... on a clean piece of paper he typed "K" 13 times.

Or Steinbach, as he took over when Gardy was ejected. (At least I thought that's how it was.)

Yeah, me, too. Is this an issue of not trusting Fryer?

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy with a 40-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing in from center field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature near 80. White Sox: SP, Danks Eaton CF Beckham 2B Abreu 1B Dunn DH Ramirez SS Gillaspie 3B Sierra RF De Aza LF Flowers C Twins, SP, Hughes Santana SS Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Willingham LF Morales DH Arcia RF Suzuki C Escobar 3B Fuld CF -------------------------------- Brian's up. Take a good cut, young man! Well, man. ---------------------------------------------------------- LOL... Swing Hard in case you hit it... Right? Things to Think About: 1. Let's go Streaking -- Bring your Green Hat... C'mon everybody we're going streaking. The Twins are on a roll and our pitchers are the butter on that roll. Despite early in the game complaints about Kevin Correia yesterday from some of the Game Thread faithful. Correia wiggled out of some stuff and he's been having a nice stretch of wiggling... Just two earned runs allowed in the last 3 starts over 18 innings. So many have been waiting for a Rochester arm to take his place. I have a feeling that it isn't going to happen unless Correia gets hurt. Back to the naked people running down the street. The Twins have had 7 decent starts in a row on the mound. If they could only time hitting with that pitching... The Twins could be pretty scary right now. 2. #5-4-3-2-1? -- Many people like to take starting pitchers and put them into tiny little boxes. This guy is a #4... This Guy is a #2... This guy is a #5 but projects to a #1. I understand what you are doing when you do that but at the same time... I don't understand why you do that. What is Phil Hughes? In years past with the Yankees... statistically he was a #9... This year with the Twins he's a #2 posting a 3.09 ERA and 1.10 WHIP... So what is he? I don't care... He's the Ace of this staff and in the context of this team. You rotate 5 pitchers typically and they all have to keep your club in ball games. I like what Phil Hughes is doing and to me he's our #45. 3. John Danks -- Today Hughes faces off against John Danks and Mr. Danks has been on a bit of a roll himself. His last 5 starts have been solid... Giving up just 6 earned runs in 35.2 innings. He's 29 years old... left handed and he hails from Round Rock Texas which is a suburb of Austin. The city of Round Rock was named after an actual rock that sits in the middle of Brushy Creek. In case you are all wondering... The Rock isn't perfectly round. It looks more like a badly shaped English Muffin Rock. However... they do things different in Texas and the city council refused to call the City "English Muffin Rock Texas". One council member was quoted as saying "We ain't gonna call ourselves after no Tea sipping princy boys". Back to John Danks... He is married to a musician... Ashley Monroe of the Pistol Annies. As far as I can tell... She's stands on the other side of Miranda Lambert... Holds a microphone and sings every once in awhile. Around the house she can be heard singing "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath while doing dishes. "Balls to the Wall" by Accept while showering and "Blind in Texas" by W.A.S.P while taking long walks. Danks mixes his speeds very well and when he is spotting all his pitches... He can be difficult. #4 -- All Star Game -- It's starting to look like Kurt Suzuki is the most likely Twins selection for the upcoming All-Star game on our turf. Brian Dozier has been great yet fading a little but Dozier has some serious tough competition at 2B while Suzuki does not. Glen Perkins is also an all star consideration and it's quite possible that he will be a home town selection being a Minnesota boy. He's earned it but it doesn't hurt to be from Minnesota this year... And Phil Hughes is also a consideration. I believe TC Bear will be the obvious selection at mascot. #5 -- Monkey DNA -- I was reading... It's rare but there are times when I read things and do some learning. According to what I'm reading... Chimpanzee's have 98% similar DNA as humans do. I read that and I let it roll around in my head a little while... 98%!!! That's a big number... Well... My first thought is this... It sure makes that 2% rather important and I want mine protected. I'd hate to have surgery or something... only to have the Doctor accidentally remove my 2% non-monkey DNA.

That's where he was assigned to do his rehab.

Sox are now 0-12 on Saturdays for this season.

But that just helped

This game is getting exciting in the wrong way

Well, for today it would seem. Probably think that it's time to give Morales a look at 1st to see where he's at.

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from right field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature near 85. White Sox: SP, Rienzo Eaton CF Beckham 2B Gillaspie 3B Abreu 1B Dunn DH Ramirez SS Viciedo RF De Aza LF Nieto C Twins: SP, Correia Santana SS Dozier 2B Mauer DH Morales 1B Arcia RF Suzuki C Parmelee LF Escobar 3B Fuld CF --------------------------- Okay, Bri, go to it. I think these lineups will give you a few things to think about, not that you need any help as your brain seems bursting with plenty to work with! ----------------------------------------------------- It's long been assumed that my brain burst along time ago. I used to love the taste of paint chips. Things to think About: 1. Andre Rienzo -- He's 25 years old and from the baseball hotbed known as San Paulo Brazil. I'd imagine that the entire country of Brazil will have the TV's on and their eyes glued to it as they watch every pitch thrown by Rienzo with heavy anticipation. There is nothing else going on in Brazil to capture their attention. Rienzo is struggling this year with a current 5.67 ERA. In his last two starts he has given up 6 and 7 earned runs. However... he shouldn't be faulted for this... Because he's from southern half of the globe. It's technically Winter in Brazil and therefore his off season. On the other side of the equator everything is the opposite... Things circle around the drain the opposite way... In Brazil and Patagonia... Curveballs break the opposite way. Just try to imagine what it's like to learn how to pitch with a curveball that breaks one way and all of a sudden it reverses on you as a pitcher when you come North. Of course he's going to struggle!!! Despite this handicap... Rienzo became the first pitcher from Brazil to ever win a game in MLB. This puts Rienzo on the same list with other famous firsts... Such as Adam and Eve... Marco Polo and George Washington. 2. Oswaldo Arcia -- Uff Da... After an 0-3 last night. He is now 0 for his last 21. He could go 4-4 today and be 4 for 25 and that would only be a .160 stretch of baseball. He had sat two games prior as the Twins tried to convince him to stop trying to hit the ball to Olmstead county every single time he swung. So... Here's the good news... Oswaldo did not strike out last night. It may seem like baby steps but it's really a big giant leap for mankind. Oswaldo will hit home runs when he hits the ball solid. He doesn't need to swing harder... he just needs to square it up. 3. Josh Willingham -- Takes a seat on the bench today... I think this good... Parmelee has been hitting decently in limited chances and Willingham was a little clanky in the field last night in the 9th. Arcia may be worse of late but Hammer has been a little all or nothing at the plate as his BA has plummeted in recent weeks. I think you can start talking about Brian Dozier the same. Brian has made himself into a power hitter and he could be sacrificing other parts of his game to be a power guy. With that said... Nice clutch single last night Brian!!! 4. Eduardo Escobar -- I used to be a pretty consistent supporter of Pedro Florimon because of his defensive skill. The honest truth was that I didn't know what we had in Eduardo Escobar because he didn't get a bunch of chances to play and when he did... he was nothing but ordinary. Things have changed in 2014. I no longer support Florimon because Florimon is hitting around .100 which is just too low to support ever. Meanwhile... Escobar has grabbed a hold of a starting spot and it starting to look non-fluky to me. Escobar is looking like a ball player to the bone and ball players are guys I get behind. Last night with the bases loaded he went down and lined a double down the line. Clutch... I tell you... it was Clutch... This drove in 2 runs and put a runner on third who was then drove in with a Fuld sac fly. It's easy to say that Escobar was responsible for 3 Twin runs on the board and that brings us to the ninth. With Escobar on 2nd... Dozier jammed a liner into LF. Viciedo picked up the ball in mid LF as Escobar was touching 3B and rounding it and being waved in. I was screaming at the TV... NO NO NO... He doesn't have a chance. Luckily Viciedo took about two minutes to throw the ball and even after delivering an accurate throw to the plate. Escobar was able to reach his right hand around the catcher and score. That was a ball player slide... and Escobar is a ball player!!! No doubt about it... Escobar played a role in 4 of the Twins 5 runs and he won that game for us. While we wait for Dozier, Mauer, Hammer, Kendrys and Arcia to snap out of it... Thank Goodness we have a ball player in Edaurdo Escobar. 5. Nagging -- I spent last night watching the Twins with a friend who had invited me over. He's had a girlfriend for the past year and let me tell you... Is she ever trying to teach him stuff. We were just trying to watch the Twins game and she'd come around and tell him to sit up straight if he slightly slouched in his chair... She said his third beer was way too much... The TV was too loud... The bag of Doritos were not good for him and his fingers were all orange now and he'd have to wash his hands. Certain stories that he told were not interesting to her and she felt that he shouldn't bore other people with his stories. It was pretty rough to watch. I didn't want to inject myself into the situation so I sat quietly and observed it all. When he went to the bathroom to wash his hands. She apologized to me for his behavior. Well now... she is dragging me into it and his behavior was perfectly fine to me... it was hers that was making me uncomfortable. So I said... "Don't worry about it... He's over 40 years old and entitled to be himself in his own home". To which she replied... "I'm just trying to make him a better person"... To Which I replied... "I'd be careful... If you make him a better person... He might go find a better girlfriend who doesn't mind his orange fingers." (Pause)... "Can you pass me the Doritos"?

And just to answer your question, gates open 2 hrs prior to the game on Fri-Sun, 1 1/2 hrs prior Mon-Thurs.

Yup. Pretty much what they said. Okay ... Sox are 0-11 on Saturdays. Good or bad omen for us tomorrow?

White Sox post-game show ... talking about the bad Liriano-Escobar trade. They want Esco back.