July 6, 2023
Twins take care of business, sweep Royals
The Twins accomplished job No. 1 on Wednesday by completing a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals which now makes the club 4-1 this month with plenty of winnable games still to come. I can’t emphasize this enough because the time is now. The Twins face nothing but weak competition in July, so if... Continue Reading »
December 12, 2022
Zen and the artlessness of the Minnesota Twins
Robert Pirsig, whose manuscript for a book called “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” was reportedly rejected more than 100 times, finally found overwhelming success when it was published in 1974. Ostensibly about a motorcycle trip from Minnesota to California, the book uses the journey and motorcycles to make a philosophical exploration. Its tagline... Continue Reading »
October 16, 2022
What does a good pitching coach mean to a baseball team? The world, apparently
In “Facing Nolan,” a relatively new documentary about the Hall of Fame pitcher, Ryan, wild but effective in the early days of his career with the New York Mets, eventually was traded to the California Angels. When Ryan first learned that he was going to California, he thought he was on his way to the... Continue Reading »
July 18, 2022
It’s time to kick over the buffet table, Rocco
The Twins are a good team. Don’t believe me? Well, they lead the AL Central with a 50-44 record, they rank 4th in runs scored in the American League, 5th in team ERA and 6th in fielding through Sunday. We also know they can play much better baseball — they certainly showed they can through... Continue Reading »
July 12, 2022
July 1969: Apollo 11 blasts off, the Twins pour it on and localizing ‘moon’ stories with Molly Ivins
Who could forget the summer of 1969? Few of my parents’ generation probably could, perhaps most notably because of a history-making event that captured the attention of millions around the world as three men blasted off from Florida on July 16 and returned to earth eight days later. The Apollo 11 lunar capsule touched down... Continue Reading »
June 21, 2022
Twins drop series to D-backs, limp home to face Cleveland
The Twins turned a promising road trip into a ho-hum affair after they lost two of three games to one of the most mysterious lineups in baseball. I thought the Tampa Bay Rays had won the honors of no-name lineups, but no, that distinction now goes to the Arizona Diamondbacks. I didn’t recognize a single... Continue Reading »
May 18, 2022
A’s snap losing streak to Twins, win 5-2
The Twins fell to 4-1 on the season against the Oakland A’s on Tuesday after the Athletics pulled away in the seventh inning for a 5-2 win. Dylan Bundy was back on the mound after he was sidelined by COVID-19, although he was pulled after only three innings and 54 pitches in favor of Josh... Continue Reading »
April 4, 2022
Twins win again, blast Browns 8-2 on Sunday
Twins hitting and pitching continues to excel, leading the team to an 8-2 win over the St. Louis Browns* on Sunday. Newly acquired pitcher Sonny Gray was perfect over four innings, allowing no hits, no runs and no walks with six strikeouts. He appears to be ready for the regular season and so do the... Continue Reading »
April 3, 2022
Twins top Rays, look very, very good as new season approaches
Nick Gordon homered and tripled, lefty Devin Smeltzer pitched four scoreless innings to earn his second win of spring and the Twins rolled the Tampa Bay Rays 8-2 on Saturday to improve to 7-9 in Grapefruit League action. The Twins continue to hit and pitch well, and if that continues… well, that’s the name of... Continue Reading »