Please take a moment…

…to remember George Steinbrenner.

Never in my life did I think I'd be sad to see this man pass. But alas—he was a baseball legend.

I was inspired to draw a picture.




I tried to make it as realistic as possible.

R.I.P.



…to cheer on the Saint Paul Saints.

After Sunday’s Twins’ game, I flipped channels until I came to a Saint Paul Saints’ game during a rain delay. Lots of videos detailing Saint Paul Saints history, Kevin Millar love, etc. It went on for about an hour. Then the game started back up, and the Saints were losing 2-13 in the top of the 9th.



…to watch Jacque Jones pop out?

(Click to Englarge)

Picture Courtesy of My Mom!

Cuddyer, Terry Tiffee, Red Dog, Gardy, Varitek?

Everybody loves Jacque Jones.



…to realize the American League's All-Star game winning-streak is over.

Dang it!

Cliff Lee to Twins! Er, Yankees! Reds? No wait—Rangers!

Isn’t this FUN? Aren’t you just on Google News searching for “Cliff Lee” every other minute?

What? You aren’t? Here’s a super informative time-line of the reports coming out on Cliff Lee:


July 3: Why Cliff Lee Has No Shot at Coming to The Bronx This Season

July 3, 10:10pm: Source says Minnesota Twins leading race to acquire pitcher Cliff Lee

July 6, 12:15am: Twins offer prospects Aaron Hicks and Wilson Ramos to Mariners for Cliff Lee

July 6, 5:03pm: Rangers favored to land Cliff Lee

July 7, 10:40am: Joel Sherman (NYPost): "[T]he perception in baseball is that Minnesota is the frontrunner for Lee. "

July 7, 5:53pm: Joe Christensen (StarTribune): “The Twins and Mariners have yet to exchange proposals for Lee.”

July 8, 8:12am: Cliff Lee to Twins?

July 8, 1:25pm: Baseball Source: Rangers Favorite To Land Cliff Lee

July 8, 8:05pm: Reds in early stages of negotiations for Lee

July 9, 4:01am: Joel Sherman (NYPost): Yankees on brink of trading top prospect for Cliff Lee

July 9, 8:01am: Yankees-Mariners talks about Lee may be breaking down

July 9, 9:30am: Are the Yankees About to Get Cliff Lee?

July 9, 11:32am: What if Yankees get Lee?

July 9, 11:51am: Yanks Bag Cliff Lee Under Mets and Omar Minaya's Noses

July 9, 12:59pm: Report: Lee trade to Yankees is off

July 9, 3:45pm: Joel Sherman (NYPost) Yankees won't get Cliff Lee in trade after Mariners back out

July 9, 5:01pm: Joel Sherman (NYPost) Yankees don't get Cliff Lee; Mariners trade him to Rangers


Don't you feel informed now?

You're welcome.



UPDATE:

July 9, 5:30pm: Rangers make bold move, deal for All-Star Lee

MLB.com is finally calling it!

Can We All Be a Little More Positive Now (and Nicer to Visting Fans)?

See? We can beat the Yankees.

I’m really hoping last night's win will help can the extreme pessimism floating around in the Twins blogosphere. Really, look at this stuff:

• Brian on Twinkie Town: “I am a diehard Twins fan but this team is just unwatchable.”

• Jason Kubel’s Beard on Twinkie Town: “I hate to say this gang, but you KNOW were are going to be swept tonight. I’m hoping for a win, of course, but deep down, at the deepest, darkest depth of human emotion, you KNOW we are about to be swept at home.”

• Fanatic Jack: “This team looks more and more like 'The little engine that can't.' ... The offense is terrible, our bullpen can't hold leads, and our manager is a moron."

Jesus!

Sure, we lost to the Yankees four times this season, we’ve been batting terribly with runners in scoring position, and we’re paying Brendan Harris $1.45 million this year. But look—there’s still plenty worth living for Twins fans: even New Yorkers are agreeing that Target Field is better than the new Yankee Stadium; Morneau is leading the majors with a .377 batting average; and if the season ended today, the Twins would be the American League Central Division champions.

Plus look at this:





Be Nice to the Visitors

We all know Yankee fans can be douches, but that doesn’t mean we have to be douches too.

I was very dismayed to see some Twins fans this week at Target Stadium chasing around Yankees fans in the concourse and giving them hell. Andrew over at Off the Mark also described seeing this 'let's-act-like-we’re-Yankee-fans-at-Yankee-Stadium' type behavior (Andrew's post is a good read too).


Ok, story time: 1987, Game 7 of the World Series between the Minnesota Twins and the Cardinals. My parents—the luckiest people on the face of the earth—were sitting behind home plate. Sitting next to the aisle in the same section was a loud Cardinals fan cheering on his team.

So what did Twins fans do? A Twins fan in the section bought him a beer, because “his team is going to lose.” Then other Twins fans bought him a beer. Then more Twins fans bought him a beer. Pretty soon the Cardinals fan had a whole row of full beers in the aisle next to him, waiting to be drank. Towards the end of the game, the fan was saying “I love you guys! I looove all you guys! Twins fans are the best!! The Twins have the best fans in the world!!!”


Story time part II: In early 2005, my Mom and I attended a Twins vs. White Sox game at the Metrodome. Sitting in a seat in front of us was a lone White Sox fan, cheering very loudly and consistently for his team. He was getting a lot of beef from the other Twins fans in the section. So when Mark the Beer Guy came by, my mom stood up and said, “Mark! I want to buy a beer for that guy!” and pointed at the White Sox fan. The fan looked at my Mom like she had Alexi Casilla’s facial hair. He was utterly shocked. He informed us that he didn’t drink, but thanked her.

The White Sox Fan was actually pretty friendly. He started buying the open seat next to ours when the White Sox were in town. Now he’s our friend—he’s the guy in my photos from the Twins-Yankees game earlier this week. He gives us rides to the games when we need them, and we’re slowly turning him into a Twins fan.



Moral of the story: Please don’t act like a douche to fans from the opposing team. They are spending money at our ballpark. Plus, it is a lot more fun to be friendly, see the look on their face when you buy them a beer, and joke around then it is to get into mindless, drunk scuffles and be kicked out of the stadium.

I mean really. How can you not like this guy?


See the Video here!!!

Game of Numbers?

Some numbers prior to Sunday, May 16th, 2010:

51
Number of Consecutive Saves at Home by Mariano Rivera (tied for major league record)

3
Number of Grand Slams given up by Mariano Rivera (two were during his rookie year)

0
Number of Grand Slams given up by Mariano Rivera at home

0
Number of runs given up by Mariano Rivera through 11 innings in 2010

0
Number of times Mariano Rivera had walked in a run and given up a Grand Slam in the same game

0
Number of Grand Slams the Twins had in 2010

54,364,454
Number of times the Twins had left the bases loaded in 2010

7
Number of career walks Jim Thome had off Mariano Rivera (most of any player)


And this is why I love baseball.




Statistics only go so far. I am a firm believer in that. Trust me—nothing makes me want to start chucking dollar-dogs at someone more than hearing their faux-authoritative opinion on some player that's based entirely on SABRmetric bull-crap and an occasional viewing of Baseball Tonight. These people tell me things like—as one guy did back in 2006—‘Brian McCann is a better hitter than Joe Mauer.'

Maybe I am just a loony, but I won't even criticize Gardy for walking Mark Teixeira Friday night to load the bases for A-Rod. I like to see faith get a chance to beat out the numbers sometimes.

I don’t hate statistics. I play fantasy baseball, I even prefer rotisserie over head-to-head. What gets me is when people start to mistake players’ values as fantasy baseball players for players' values as real baseball players. Or when people start to think statistics measure how a player is going to perform in the future, rather than how they have performed in the past. Sometimes Jason Tyners of the world do hit a home run, David Ortizes do steal a base, and Dallas Bradens do pitch a perfect game.


And sometimes Mariano Rivera walks in a run. Then gives up a grand-slam. To the Twins. In the Bronx.


I was going to post some more videos to give Twins fans the warm fuzzies after the series loss to the Yankees, but I think Jason Kubel took care of that.


Instead, here are some headlines from the New York-centric media:

NY Magazine: Mariano is a Human Being

NY Times: Lightning Hits Twice, but Eight Years Apart

Around the Horn Baseball: Mariano Rivera looked mortal, and that's a problem....

NBCSports: Human After All? Rivera Surrenders Grand Slam

Pinstripe Alley: Twins 6, Yankees 3, "Is That Even Legal?"

The Sporting Blog: Mariano Rivera Didn't Exactly Close Out Jason Kubel and the Twins

NYYFans: That Da__ed Slam
(Referring to "Jason Morneau")

The Yankee Scrolls: A Great Way to Head Into a Big Week
(This blogger apparently thought the game ended in the 7th inning)

Washington Post: When it comes to closers, no one's close to Mariano Rivera
(Genius columnist who was literally about to publish an article the next day predicting Mariano wouldn't give up a single run all year)


And for the grand finale:

Yanks Alive! Twins at the Stadium
A Yankees fan/reporter who provided live updates from the stadium via his blackberry.

Here are the highlights:

1:31 pm: I know that walk-off fest the Yanks enjoyed last season against the Twins here was just about one year ago. Yanks are taking advantage of that by pretty much showing the walk-off moment on the scoreboard in between innings. Perhaps that's part of how they have such a ridiculous advantage over the Twins.
...
1:53 pm: David Wells is broadcasting the game for TBS. They just flashed his mug on the screen here and he got a nice hand. Anyone remember anything interesting happening on a Sunday in May when the Twins were in town and Wells pitched?
...
2:35 pm: Twins always get credit for being so fundamentally sound, but that fly-ball single by Teixeira was a straight-up disaster. Span dove but couldn't get it, Pena scores easily and when left-fielder Jason Kubel picked up the ball, he tried to throw out Jeter going for third when he really had no shot. Jeter was safe, sliding headfirst, and Teixeira took second on the throw. The Twins get what they deserve if A-Rod singles in two runs here.
...
2:55 pm: Twins have no hope here, clearly: Cuddyer liner to Ramiro Pena at short for a double play to end the inning.
...
3:41 pm: Rivera starts 3-0 v. Thome.

3:42 pm: Now it's 3-2

3:43 pm: Rivera walks him, forcing in one of Joba's runs. It's 3-2 now.

3:44 pm: Jason Kubel, grand slam. There are some stunned folks here at the Stadium. Twins are up, 6-3.

3:45 pm: That's Kubel's sixth career grand slam.

3:46 pm: Rivera had not allowed a run all year in 11 innings.
...
4:13 pm: Span, who was on first via a fielder's choice, stole second. Game is dragging now.
...
4:29 pm: Bad loss with BoSox looming, 6-3 Twins.

Gardy put it best: “You probably should have recorded that. Take pictures. It’s probably not something you will see often. As far as I’m concerned, we’re 1-0 against the Yankees in our last one game played. We’ll construe the numbers any way we want now.”