April 30, 2023
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Twins have no business losing to Royals
The Kansas City Royals, one of the weakest teams in all of baseball, edged the Twins 3-2 on Saturday by hanging around just long enough to finally tie the game and then took advantage of some miscues late as served up Twins’ closer Jhoan Duran. But it never should have been that close because Royals... Continue Reading »
February 5, 2023
What baseball moments would count as Pat Mahomes’ ‘Super Bowl?’
Pat Mahomes’ son Patrick is headed to his second Super Bowl as the quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs. But what about his old man? What were the Super Bowl-like moments for the former Twins pitcher who spent five of his 11 major league seasons in Minnesota? Well, there weren’t many, largely, it appears, because... 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 4, 2021
So much for making a stand against the AL Central
A week ago there was optimism. The Twins had taken two of three games from the Cleveland Indians, improved to 10 games under .500, moved as high as third place in the division, and facing a new month of games against division rivals, it appeared that maybe, just maybe, the Twins were ready to turn... Continue Reading »
December 7, 2020
Ol’ Ike didn’t bring much luck to Camilo on Opening Day
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, when presidents still did such things, threw out the first pitch or attended a number of Washington Senators games during his time in office. And pitcher Camilo Pascual often was on the bump for an Opening Day start, according to Baseball Almanac and Baseball-Reference.com. Pascual, who won 174 games over 18... Continue Reading »
July 6, 2020
Remember 1973? That was a wacky season for the Twins
The Twins won Game 1 of the 1973 season and ended it at 81-81. In between, they shut out their opponents 18 times and were shut out 13 times as well. They also served up 11 walk-off losses, were 3-9 against the New York Yankees (of course) and yet they dominated the best team in... Continue Reading »
July 2, 2020
Twins baseball is back. Finally.
I’m not positive that major league baseball and its players truly settled their COVID-19 differences, but no matter: baseball is back. Summer training begins soon, followed by a 60-game season that gets underway later this month. At first glance, the shorter and geographically condensed season would appear to work in the Twins favor. Or does... Continue Reading »
December 9, 2019
Welcome back… Michael Pineda?
The Twins, according to various reports, apparently have agreed to bring back starting pitcher, Michael Pineda, on a two-year, $20 million deal. He pitched well for the club in 2019 — especially down the stretch — but he also was suspended for using a diuretic (water pill) banned by major league baseball. #BREAKING sources tell... Continue Reading »
July 11, 2018
The Web of the Game, a review
For years I had heard about it: A story called “The Web of the Game” by celebrated baseball writer Roger Angell, who wrote about a college pitchers’ duel in May of 1981 between future Met Ron Darling and future Twin Frank Viola. The story is included in a collection of Angell’s writing called “Game Time,”... Continue Reading »