wsnydes

What a shocking end to the inning. \s

A hit with RISP?!?

And Kepler went yard too. Could be a productive night in the trade market department.

So many stolen bases...

Hopefully the Yankees were watching that.

Don't forget the random balk. All are a staple of this offense.

Unsurprisingly, no dice.

The dreaded RISP...

Oh, is that all?!?

I don't usually get much from the beer guys, but it is kinda weird not having them walk up and down the aisle yet.

He's done alright for himself so far, I think.

As a Minnesotan, he should be well aware that you can never have enough bodies of water!

Thank you, good sir! I've switched over to brats, but that's a loop hole in the law I'm told!

I was actually looking for an "All of them" option. Kinda disappointed, actually!

I stand corrected!

In a lost season, TD "selected" my "contract" and brought up a scrub! I'm a longtime Game Thread participant, but have never dared to dip my toes in the Introduction waters...UNTIL TODAY! Please, no applause, please! Games against the White Sox have always been among my favorite games to attend. I enjoy the rivalry. I enjoy the interaction between the fan bases (when it's good natured). I enjoy the great games that have been played, particularly late season games with playoff implications. I enjoy the atmosphere that all of those things bring to the game. Which brings me to the topic of today's intro: Game day experiences at the ballpark. With the pandemic closing arenas and stadium venues across the world, even when sports started to come back, there was always something missing - going to the game. Now that restrictions have relaxed or disappeared completely, we the fans are able to get back into the ballparks and stadiums to watch games in person. While the simple act of doing something that used to be normal is sometimes enough, there are small and sometimes subtle things that people always enjoy about being at the ballpark. For me, it's the sounds. TV can amplify whatever it wants, it's just not the same. Sure, there are things they catch on TV that I'll never hear, but its still not like being there. I enjoy the purity of the sound of the crack of a bat. The pop of the catcher's mitt. The umpire calling a strike. The anticipation of the fans on a seeing eye single or a dying quail in a key spot. The obliteration of a baseball that sails into the outfield seats. Kids in the front few rows calling for a player to toss them a ball. That's all part of the experience for me, and I've missed that considerably. It's great to have it back! Whether it be Target Field or any other major league ballpark, or even a minor league or local town ball ballfield, what are some of the things that you've missed about attending a game? Have you discovered something that you never noticed before? Or, have you put a hot tub and TV in the backyard like @Brock Beauchamp and decided that that's more to your liking? I'd be interested to hear about what brings you to the ballpark besides the game itself. Today's Lineups: Visiting Twins RHP Pineda 1: Kepler RF ( L ) 2: Polanco 2B ( S ) 3: Cruz DH ( R ) 4: Donaldson 3B ( R ) 5: Larnach LF ( L ) 6: Sano 1B ( R ) 7: Gordon CF ( L ) 8: Jeffers C ( R ) 9: Simmons SS ( R ) Hosting White Sox RHP Cease 1: Anderson SS ( R ) 2: Engel RF ( R ) 3: Abreu 1B ( R ) 4: Moncada 3B ( S ) 5: Vaughn LF ( R ) 6: Garcia 2B ( S ) 7: Burger DH ( R ) 8: Collins C ( L ) 9: Hamilton CF ( S )

I voted Donaldson...just before the deadline. Because that's how this team seems to roll this season.

If this is a long term recovery thing, it makes perfect sense to deal with it now and be healthy for spring training. No sense is putting him behind for next season at this point.

But of course he is! We can't have nice things this season. Wouldn't expect anything different this season, unfortunately.

That's a good point. Unless they got a capable CF in the trade, which also makes Kepler expendable.

I, too, am "wondering" about Kepler. As in, I wonder what happened to the Kepler of 2019? I digress, if the Twins end up dealing Buxton, I'm not sure that Kepler is all that expendable. Celestino clearly isn't ready. And with no other CF on the roster, I wonder how motivated they really are about dealing Kepler. Obviously there's some "what ifs" there, but these are the things I'm watching for this trade deadline. Edit: Also, they'd be selling low on him. I'm not sure that really matters, but it's there for consideration.

We don't have to watch Polanco play a subpar SS every day as long as Nick Gordon is on the roster. There is value in giving him reps too. It doesn't have to be purely transactional in the case of Simmons.

It's all your fault then!

One run at a time. One run at a time.

It's one thing to ask that he actually finds his way on base. Apparently quite another to ask that he get around them in a reasonable amount of time!