Squirrel

I like over easy, cooked whites, runny yolk.

I hate not scoring when bases are loaded.

I've edited the lineup above. Santana takes Hicks' place. Hicks was scratched due to a stiff lower back.

Game-time forecast: Clear. Winds blowing in from left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 75. (Have to say ... that sounds about perfect for a game.) Rangers: SP, Saunders Choo LF Andrus SS Moreland 1B Beltre 3B Ríos DH Choice RF Martin CF Chirinos C Sardiñas 2B Twins: SP, Gibson Dozier 2B Mauer 1B Plouffe DH Arcia RF Willingham LF Suzuki C Núñez 3B Escobar SS Santana CF (Hicks scratched with a stiff lower back) -------------------------------- Brian is up next ... stay tuned. --------------------------------------- Things to Think About: 1. Josmil Pinto -- Might as well start right off with the thought that nearly everyone is thinking. The disappearance of Josmil Pinto from the starting lineup. With Josmil Pinto not starting tonight... he is now out of the starting lineup for 47 games in a row!!! Josmil Pinto has 7 Homers in 112 at-bats... That's a home run every 16 at bats and that percentage leads the team. So... On paper and maybe reality... that's your top power hitter collecting dust. Gardy I'm sure feels that there are plenty of power options available if Ben Revere can go deep for Philly. 2. Lineupology -- If I was personal advisor to Ron Gardenhire here's who I would have started tonight. Because they haven't played since December: Pinto Because they came through with big plays last night: Arcia, Nunez, Hicks. Because they are hitting hotter than others: Escobar, Mauer, Plouffe Because he needs some swings back from injury: Willingham Because you need a 2B: Dozier As you can see... Gardy was close... Just play Pinto and the lineup would have been perfect. I don't know why Gardy doesn't call me or at least call Jokin. 3. Kurt Suzuki -- None of this is knock against Kurt Suzuki... He's been great and I think he is a dark horse candidate for a spot on the all star team if he keeps going. At the very least... he is a candidate for the all motor name team... Along with Lew Ford and Disco Dan Ford. 4. Joe Saunders -- The Rangers toss 32 year old left hander Joe Saunders at us tonight. Joe was born in Virginia and played college ball at Virginia Tech. He has played for 37 of the 30 major league baseball teams and he's just going to sink everything. His fastball sinks... His bathroom sink sinks. His sinkhole sinks. If he finds himself up in the zone... he will find himself in trouble. He sinks so much that when he started pitching he was 6-6 in height... He's now 6-3. 5. Alphabet Soup -- I had some for lunch today. As I looked into the bowl and saw the letters... I thought to myself... It's pretty cool that I can read... Otherwise all those shapes would be pretty strange.

pfft

I don't disagree with any of this ... but I still think it's too soon to call him out or to call on him to 'step up.' Really? One day after he comes off the DL? Seriously ... give him a little room. If after a week or two, and he seems like he's progressing, okay. But a day after coming off the DL is just, imo, a little bit, well, jumping the gun a bit out of our own impatience for a faltering team that isn't his responsibility at this point.

He just came off the DL for a wrist injury, one he also dealt with last season. While I agree with the sentiment ... that he could be that much needed 'dangerous' power in the lineup ... I personally feel it's too soon to start clamoring for him to 'step up.' Yes, he is young, but for me, I'd just like to see him get through the next month showing progress and showing his wrist will stay healthy. In fact, I'm kind of 'holding my breath' with that, as it was worrisome for me that he had the same wrist injury a year ago. Hopefully that was a fluke and he can now go forth and become the player we all hope he is. But my personal sentiment is to wait a month to see what he does before writing declarative statements about needing to 'step up.'

I genuinely feel bad for Hicks in all of this. Who knows where he'd be now and what kind of player he'd be if only. Yeah, I don't know, no one can, but he was put in an impossible situation both last year and this. And while his play has been questionable at times, I don't blame him. Yeah, he's playing in the majors and we should be able to expect better from players at this level, but I just can't blame him. It wasn't his choice to be forced to play as he has been. I only hope he can come through the better for it, but he and this whole situation have been handled very irresponsibly, IMHO. Those in charge often make decisions I don't understand but then I don't have the knowledge and experience they do and I usually give them the benefit of the doubt because I'm just a fan. But this situation, we all deserve better, especially Hicks.

ouch.

Yes

Game-time forecast: Partly cloudy with a 50-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing from right to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Temperature around 80. Rangers: SP, Tepesch Shin-Soo Choo DH Elvis Andrus SS Mitch Moreland 1B Adrian Beltre 3B Alex Rios RF Chris Gimenez C Leonys Martin CF Michael Choice LF Rougned Odor 2B Twins: SP, Correia Brian Dozier 2B Joe Mauer 1B Trevor Plouffe 3B Oswaldo Arcia RF Josh Willingham LF Jason Kubel DH Kurt Suzuki C Aaron Hicks CF Eduardo Escobar SS -------------------------------- Brian will post some thoughts for you here. ------------------------------------------------------- Things to Think About: 1. Texas -- Perhaps nowhere in the US of A will you find a state prouder of themselves than Texas. The state pride shows up in the many slogans... The Lone Star State... Don't Mess with Texas... It's like a whole other country... On the 8th Day God Created Texas... Obviously you get the picture... Texas thinks they are better than Arkansas and 95 percent of all Texans have not traveled past Arkansas. When Texas was first formed... the border stretched all the way into modern day Wyoming. As a condition of statehood... Texas was forced to give up a large portion of it's land because it was important to the government that Oklahoma has a panhandle where nobody lives. Economically... Texas is a major exporter of Oil, Beef, Jalapeño's, Football Players and Cheap Labor. 2. The Rangers -- They were established in 1961 and named after Clayton Moore. Original uniforms actually came equipped with a Lone Ranger mask but they didn't have the eye holes and eyesight was a simple explanation for their 62-100 record. It was Jay Silverheels who convinced the baseball club to take off the masks in 1969. Which was about the time that KISS formed. Fast forward today and we have a huge disabled list with important players such as Prince Fielder, Jurickson Profar, Martin Perez, Matt Harrison and Derek Holland on it. GM Jon Daniels has been seen roaming the countryside wondering where all his players went. Shin Soo Choo currently leads the team in walks with 31... That makes him the Walker Texas Ranger Walker award leader. 3. Willingham and Arcia -- OK... it's May 26 and they are back and in the lineup. It doesn't take much imagination to conclude... Going into the season... The front office probably believed that the combination of these two were supposed to supply a large portion of the power on this team. They are back and healthy now... Let's see if they can do what they are expected to do. As a hitter... Arcia was supposed to watch the veteran Willingham and learn what to do. It ended up being the opposite. Arcia hurt his wrist on April 4th and Willingham copied him on April 6th. 4. Josmil Pinto... Gardy it's your lineup... But I gotta ask... What are you doing in regards to Pinto? You just came off a swing of 5 games of National League Parks and Josmil Pinto started just one of those 5 games. I think we can say he's rested unless he stayed up late last night to play video games. In the one game he started he hit a home run. While Kurt Suzuki has gone 2 for his past 15. If Pinto doesn't start at catcher today... DH would have been option because Kubel is 0 for his last 11. Yet... Pinto is on the bench once again. 5. Memorial Day... My wife thinks that I need a Memorial Day every day but she says that because I forget to pick up milk sometimes. Today is a big day... It isn't just a day off. Many Americans have sacrificed more than I could ever imagine. They fought and died for something bigger than all of us. I don't ever want to take it for granted. I try to imagine what it was like to be on a landing craft heading for Omaha Beach. You got to get through Council Bluffs just to reach the beach and slog through deep water carrying heavy equipment maybe 200 yards under heavy fire just to reach the beach which was loaded with landmines while bullets picked off those around you at a horrible pace. The story is well known but I try to imagine what it was truly like. To know that you got to get out and move forward with the weight of the country and world on your shoulders when natural instinct would have been to swim back to Portsmouth England. I know I would have been scared and I know I would have been thinking of my loved ones and it's time for loved ones to think about them. Not just them... Every last one of them from the 18th Century to today.

That 'oy!' was mine, not Bri's. Was my comment on the Twins lineup.

Oh, so that was your fault, eh?

Why switch it back? Just have your choices there always. http://assets.dornob.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/stair-slide-in-mansion.jpg

Yeah, me too

Those diving misses are certainly agony of defeat moments.

If I lived in SF, I think that I could be a Giants fan ... 2nd to remaining a Twins fan, of course.

Esco, we needed that when bases were loaded.

It's hard to see Cola flailing as he is.

I can't stand the back up camera on my parents' car.

Keeerap

Well, I didn't say I was through buying cars I can trip over.

I don't consider a solid steel frame made by BMW plastic.

Hmm, I'm done with buying plastic cars.