It Had To Be Done

Alright, time for a real update.

As we all know the Twins were SWEEP'D. By the team we're trying to catch for the division title. And, we all know that most Twins fans are frustrated by all the errors, offensive difficulties, and just poor play by our hometown Minnesota Twins.

All I can say is I'm absolutely sick of it all. Not the poor baseball - the poor fans. All the number crunchers and people who statistically say we cannot win our division. That Nick Punto sucks and shouldn't be in the line-up all the time. That Jason Bartlett is a bad shortstop because he makes errors; that we have to rely on all the big guys in the middle of the line-up to win us a game because nothing else clicks because our starting pitching started out badly, since we were young and now we suck. So on and so forth.

First off, I'd like to see those number-crunching fans who nitpick about our boys. I'd like to see you on the field. Can you play under the pressure that is "we're 9 games back behind the Tigers, we're at home, we can't let our fans down." Or the pressure that's put on Nick Punto at third? "I can't make an error because my career's in jeopardy. I can't bring my burned-out offense on the field because otherwise I'd be out for good. Traded, sent down for a big third baseman who can hit 50 homers a year. I can't do this. I can't strikeout anymore."

I'm a cross between a regular joe Twins fan and a major fan. I watch all of the games and I have a jersey or two. A couple of bobbleheads, an autograph or so. I get as frustrated as anyone about losing a few games. I don't like it when we make errors or our offensive slumps to the degree it's been at for the last few games. I don't like how our major at-bats crumble when the pressure's on. But it's okay. It's okay because they are the same guys. Playing on this team is a pasttime and a job for them. Do you like being criticized when you're doing a shitty job at work? The pressure's always on you to perform well otherwise you're gone.

It's the exact same for our boys. The exact same, just to a greater potential.

Sure, maybe it hurts a bit when you get cut from your job. Your friends, old employees, and family know. So what? You'll get over it. But imagine all that to such a degree where the whole United States - or, the whole world - would know you got cut, traded, or even worst: sent down to a lesser company just because or your poor performance. That would suck a bit, wouldn't it? Yeah, it would. That's life for the guys. That's every single day of their life. Am I going to get sent down to AAA or am I going to ensure my stay here on the team for a few more months? How about in the case of Kevin Slowey? Have one bad outing with the Yankees in the "House of Pain" (thank you, Fever Pitch) and get sent back down? Sure, I know he'll be up sooner or later if he keeps performing like he was, but look at it. Isn't that just worry enough to quit with your job?

But these guys, they keep going. The criticism either makes you or breaks you, and with all the criticism from 'fans' that our guys have been getting, I'd crumble under the pressure too. Of course we have the ability to whine about losing. Oh, God, we lost. Again. Are we ever going to win? Nope, Morneau's had a horrible series. We aren't going to win because Joe Mauer's struck out three times in these past games.

There are more guys than Morneau, Mauer, Hunter, and Santana on this team. As much as I like the main guys, the MVPs and the award winners, I love the whole team as a 'whole' more. Sure, they have a reason they're most valuable and they win multiple Golden Gloves and Cy Youngs. Sure, they deserve a bunch of fans. They deserve all the money they're getting paid. They deserve getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. They deserve it all. But there are a bunch of other things this whole team deserves, too. And that's real fans who like them regardless of the game outcome. Who look at the positives instead of bitching and moaning about how we got swept three games and how the assbats are coming back. Sure, I love me some Batgirl and I love complaining about how the guys aren't doing so well and we should have this record instead of the one we have right now. But put yourself in the team's shoes. Those are some really big shoes to fit, and for you, that shoe might be a few sizes too big.

I just had to get this out somewhere because I hate looking at all of my daily-stop blogs to see what I could have come up with myself: People complaining about how we're so bad as a team and our offense is horrible and our line-up sucks and etc.

I don't care if I'm illogical in the baseball world. I don't care one bit. It won't stop me from being a Twins fan. Maybe I don't fully understand the mechanics of pitching and putting all the numbers together and crunching them and calculating how bad or how good our team is. Maybe I don't understand that at all. At least I'm a true blue fan who'll root for the boys through thick and thin. At least I'll keep track of them in the winter time, and at least I'll whine to my dad as much as possible about how we should go to Spring Training, even though I know as a fact flying out to Florida just for baseball is out of the question for us. At least I can give possible praise to the team, and not the "BOO YOU SUCK" attitude that's flying around. If you wanna be like that I'll put you in a box with no holes and send you to White Sox nation, because that's where you belong.

This Sucks.

Tigers 3, Twins 2
Tigers 4, Twins 3

Dear Minnesota Twins,
please win soon. please.

Yeah, that's all I got right now. Excuse me, I have to go to a doctor's appointment.

Torii, We Gon Party Like It's Your Birthday

Tigers 1, Twins 0

Unfortunately for us Twins fans, after a promising start to the second half (A's = SWEEP'D), they let us down with a 1-0 loss to the Tiggers. Well, Garza didn't let us down. The offense did, which isn't what I wanted to see.

I felt bad because in the 6th inning everything was smooth sailing until my Jason (Bartlett) made a costly error. At the time it didn't seem like it'd amount to much, but a wild pitch and a few bats later, boom! 1-0. So I felt horrible, seeing as how it was almost like J. Bart's fault we lost the game.

It's okay though. So Jason, if you're reading this, I still love you very much and I will be seeing you during Caravan.

Today is Torii's birthday and all I can say is I hope we win in honor of him. He's a nice guy, but sometimes he comes off as cocky to me. Which is a good thing, but I've heard things about him, and I'm wondering if we're going to resign him. I really want to, but I'm unsure, considering nobody's hinted at anything and it's an incredible amount of money for one player. But that's baseball for you.

Tonight's game is anybody's game, I'd say. It's just that it's more of a chance Minnesota will come out on top. You don't agree with me and all I'll do is hold up a picture of Johan Santana. Johan + 2nd Half = success. Plus, Twins > Tiggers. Simple math. Even simpler considering I passed Algebra last year. I know, I'm amazing.

What A Slugfest

Wankees 7, Twins 6
Right now: Middle 8th, Twins 20, Bitch Sox 10

I don't get it. I really don't get it. The same tennis game is on two different channels, Nascar is on (who watches Nascar?), as is some random program on FSN. So I am stuck here 'watching' the GameDay and listening to the game on the radio. Seriously now. I don't understand why we kick Bitch Sox ass when I can't even watch the amazing game on TV.

All I know at this point is that the world is crumbling. 21 hits in one game? For God's sake, what is going to be left for tonight's game? Matt Garza, I'm sorry, but your team might not even be behind you.

I can only imagine what that dugout sounds like right now. Little Nicky Punto is squealing, "Yay, I've gotten some hits!"; Kubel's sitting there doing that signature eye twitch; Castillo is complaining about how his knees are going to dislocate themselves because it 'hurts so much!', Morneau and Mauer are doing a signature handshake and speaking in a foreign language only they understand. Tyner's beating himself up, while the rest of them are just grinning because today is great.

Can we just get this game over? It's already 4 when they'll be playing in like 4 hours. I seriously am wondering if either team will be able to walk, let alone play, at 8:11 tonight.

I'm going to go continue listening to the Twins and eating my Sweettarts. This whole thing is confusing to me. I'm wondering how we as a team go from like 4 hits to like 21 hits. And Nicky P has 2 hits. I'm feeling good about this.

I love how we're rehabbing against the White Sox the same way the Yankees rehabbed against us.

My dad just called and the conversation went like this:
Kayla: Hello?
Dad: Hey, can I talk to Mom?
K: Yeah, but guess what? Twins are winning.
D: Well that's good.
K: ... 20 to 10.
D: You're kidding.
K: No. 21 hits.
D: What a slugfest.

Fireworks? Nah, I Got The Twins

Wankees Series Thus Far:
Yankees 5, Twins 1
Yankees 8, Twins 0
Twins 6, Yankees 2

Well, hello all. Apologies once more. I was down at the lakes for about a week, and have just been downright busy. I have, however, been voting for Pat Neshek non-stop like you should be. I really encourage everybody, Twins fan or not, to vote for him. He's really deserving of an All-Star visit, and he's got such a loyal fan base behind him, it's crazy.

The game today was pretty fun to watch. Johan was amazing as per usual, Kubel and Rodriguez each had 2-run homers, and we saw some absolutely STELLAR defense by Nick Punto at second base. He never ceases to amaze me, really. Little Nicky P. is my hero! :)

It worries me, though. He's just having a tough time with his at-bats.. they're changing up his swing and all that jazz. Basically, he's just trying to adjust to change... which isn't what I'm willing to do. Experience change, I mean. I want Nick Punto at third/second base. I really want him around because he's absolutely amazing defensively and has the ability to be great offensively. Nick Punto is the Minnesota Twins.. and I'd cry if he left us.

Anyways.. what the heck is up with all of these day games? Day games are good occasionally, since nothing else is on in the afternoon, but what am I to do? I have a job which involves babysitting children who don't have cable! To make matters worse, they play the Bitch Sox in a double header on Friday - which is when I babysit. I think I'll bring the twerps over here, because there's no way that I'll be missing that. Ever.

Besides... watching the same game twice in the same day gets annoying. But I do it. Because I am a true fan.

Only Human

Marlins 5, Twins 4

I would apologize for not updating for a week, but I'm too caught up in agony right about now. As most of you would know, Justin Morneau left the game versus the Marlins in the 8th inning due to colliding with the catcher, whose name I don't care about right now. He walked into the dugout after crouching down by home plate, and was apparently having troubles in the locker room. He was carted to a hospital on an ambulance. The should-be MVP for life was hooked up to an oxygen tank and was seated on a stretcher but was sitting up and alert.

Right now I am listening to sad songs to fit my mood. I suppose the worst thing that could happen would be that Justin would break a rib or his collarbone, or just bruise something. I keep thinking he's going to die. For instance, I was listening to the Dashboard Confessional song "For Justin" which is slightly emo, if you'd like to go that way.

Anyways, I'm listening to the new Maroon 5 CD now so I'm trying to be all happy. (It's not working..)

I don't believe the fans even care we lost. At least, it isn't like we're rolling over in pain. Or maybe it's just me. I keep thinking about Justin. I can't remember anything else from the game except:
1.) Jason Bartlett's fly-out in the 6th when the bases were loaded
2.) Jason Kubel's pinch-hit that allowed the tie, making me think we were capable of winning
3.) Hanley Ramirez homered off of Juan Rincon in the bottom of the 8th, thus sealing our fate
4.) My excitement when thinking Pat Neshek was going to be batting
5.) Qwest Twins Live being a drag

My mind drew a total blank, but all readers (if any) are guaranteed a post tomorrow after the game. I was overwhelmed this week, but the rest of my summer is free and for Twins only. With the exception of some babysitting.

Scotty Doesn't Know...

Brewers 11, Twins 3

That was ugly. I'm not going to lie. Scott.... as much as I like you, as cute as you are, as nice as you seem.. you aren't impressing me with your pitching. I'm sorry! I really am sorry! With all my heart! It's just.. I don't know how much longer we'll see you around up here. Oh, I think I'm going to cry.

The only thing worse than a Geoff Jenkins (whenever I hear his name, I think Scooby-Doo. Jinkies, my glasses! I can't find my glasses!) grand slam is the fact that we lost to beer-makers. I mean, the Brewers? Please. I could hear the drunken slurs from my humble abode that's like 5 hours away from Minneapolis.

To make things even WORSE, Jason Bartlett didn't even play today. Oh well. I didn't even watch the whole game (I went out with friends and started watching in the bottom of the 6th) so I guess it doesn't matter.

Nothing else to say, really. Just.. shake it off. Boooooooooooooooof? I know your shoulders hurt, but you're gonna have to carry us to a sweet victory. Put the cheeseheads the rest.