Tallking Baseball

Some Random Thoughts on the Twins 2007 Season


1. I think Lewwwwwwwww might be throughhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

I hate to say it, given that he's a sentimental fave, but after hearing this morning that he's probably going to need arthroscopic surgery on his right knee (this, after having it on his left knee in the off season), I just can't see him getting playing time/at bats at the expense of Jason Tyner, who was a total kingpin at the end of the season. Tyner deserves the chance, and Lew's had a ton of chances. In addition, I feel like we have too many outfielders as it is. T, Cuddy, Kubel, Rondell, Lew, that new kid Denard Spain (who my not make the Opening Day roster, but will be up at some point this season--I'm really excited about him). Do we really need 3 guys platooning in left?

2. T and Kubel look good/great

Both say they're a lot healthier than last year, and early reports seem to confirm that. Can you imagine if we have T and Kubel dropping bombs and Morneau, Mauer and Cuddy keeping it up? We might have 4 dudes who hit 30+ home runs! Can you imagine? The Mighty Minnesota Twins. I just laughed out loud typing that.

3. Why oh why did we give Jesse Crain a three-year deal?

Okay, so he's 24 and has a rocket arm, but let's face it, the guy is a moron/mental case. There's always that 1 guy on your team that galls you to no end, and last year it was Crain (As you well know, it was Morneau the year before that--I am a forgiving man and a firm believer in redemption/those who finally fulfill their potential). He could only pitch well in garbage time or when he had a HUGE lead to work with. If there is any iota of pressure out there for him to contend with, Crain folds. He chokes, and chokes gloriously, including--notably--in the playoffs last year. He cost Boof at least 3 wins last year. I could go on and on. And on and on and on...Everytime I see that Billy Goat's scruff of his, I go red with dread and rage and then I pass out. And when I wake up, the Twins are down by 4 runs. And we gave him three years?

I will, for the moment, bow to Terry Ryan's genius, but I am not happy about this one.

4. Poson's visa woes. What does that portend?

Speaking of redemption, it doesn't reflect well when you can't get it together and make it to spring training to fight for a roster spot. Now perhaps it is all beyond his control, but it may also be a reflection of Ponson's spotty character/record of irresponsibility. I know that we had to gamble with the rotation, especially given Radke's retirement, Silva's freefall, the overall youth of our other starters and--let's not forget--the outrageousness of the free agent market for starting pitchers (I mean, the Royals--THE ROYALS--gave Gil Meche $55 million!!!), but now I'm as nervous as the guy who cashed his paycheck and put all of it on black at the roulette table. Sheesh. Please prove me wrong, Sidney. I'm begging you.

5. ETC.
What's going to happen to Silva?
Since Rondell won't be a DH from the beginning of the year and will get to play, will his production numbers by up this year? Or will we all be drinking for cheap at the 400 Bar?
Will Old Man Pohlad open up the wallet to keep Johan?
Will Liriano be smart and patient or will he get frustrated and do something really, really stupid?

Chase Utley Rules

From MLB.com

Utley fights for the environment: Chase Utley's next goal -- after a winning a World Series -- is to make the world a cleaner place.

The All-Star second baseman was affected after seeing Al Gore's movie, "An Inconvenient Truth," and has become an advocate for stopping global warming. He joined an online movement to spread the word.

"Until I saw the movie, I never paid attention to it," Utley said. "It opened my eyes. We're not heading in the right direction as far as helping the environment. I'm trying to find ways to help, and trying to get people more aware. One person can't change it. I just hope to educate people a little bit."

Utley joined a growing list of celebrities and published his thoughts online at www.stopglobalwarming.org. Other concerned celebrities include the Barenaked Ladies, Blue Man Group, Christie Brinkley, Gen. Wesley Clark, Gov. Edward G. Rendell, Huey Lewis, James Taylor, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sheryl Crow, Larry David, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

For his part, Utley said he plans to buy a hybrid car that would get profoundly better gas mileage than the trucks owned by teammates Jon Lieber and Aaron Rowand. Lieber's custom-built Ford F-650 gets 12 miles per gallon.

"I don't think we're really on the same page," Utley said. "Maybe I'll show them the movie."

Utley plans to watch another film, "Who Killed The Electric Car?" a documentary that explores the birth, limited commercialization and eventual death of the battery electric vehicle in the U.S., specifically the General Motors EV1 of the 1990s. The film explains the role of car manufacturers, the oil industry, the U.S. government and consumers in squashing the development of the technology.

Infinite Jest Update

Page 491. I'm officially halfway through.

Tonight: LOST Returns

As usual, I was late to the party on this one. In fact, I openly resisted getting sucked into LOST, despite the protestations-cum-cajoling of people whose cultural feelers I respect. It was one of those odd things that metastasized into this stupid, prideful/snobbish chest-thumping exercise in futility. "No, of course I don't watch LOST. Why would I waste my time on that?" As if I was doing something suprememly edifying, like taking lute lessions or brushing up on reciting Icelandic sagas from memory, uh, in their original language.

Well, anyway, LOST is now like crack to me, and I've been jonesin' way, way too long for the next fix. And we (as in, America) get our fix tonight. Yippee.

So, will Kate and Sawyer escape the Island to make sweet, sweet love and leave Jack to ponder the depths of his tortured, Whartonesque New England soul and implacable code of right and wrong? Will anybody die? All I'm saying is that after waiting this long, we better get a fucking fireworks show tonight.

The. Illest. Halftime. Show. Ever.

All last week during discussion of the Super Bowl, people would ask me, "So, who are you rooting for?"

"I'm rooting for Prince."

We all know who really won last night.

Progress Report: Infinite Jest

Currently on page 272. I know, not a helluva lot of progress after a full month, but I'm hoping to knock out most, if not all, of this great [big] novel by the end of the month.

One of my other resolutions this year is/was[?] to slowly ween myself from reading multiple books at the same time. Perhaps one can't change his reading habits after reaching two decades' worth of indoctrination, but I'm trying--and, well, failing miserably.

So far this year, i.e. in the interval between starting I.J. and , uh, now, I've also read the following books:

American Noise by Campbell McGrath
Home Land by Sam Lipsyte
How to Breathe Underwater by Julie Orringer
District and Circle by Seamus Heaney

Granted, two of those books are volumes of poetry, one's a short story collection and the last one's a slender novel, but...See! This is what happens! This is me rationalizing my behavior! This is me, bargaining in my head, saying things like, "Well, if I have just one BIG book to concentrate on at a time, then I can read several little books..." Crap.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I also abandoned The Sportswriter (by Richard Ford) at page 143. Great writing, but nothing was going on. Maybe when I get older and domesticated, I'll pick it up again.

Anyway, I'm really, really enjoying Infinite Jest--more so than I ever did in my previous attempts at reading it--and so maybe I should honestly attempt a monogamous relationship with the novel (With the explicit caveat that I do, as has been my habit for a long, long time, read a short story every day). We'll see how it goes.

I'll keep you posted.

Recommended: The Met Live in HD

Perhaps the best cultural phenomenon of 2007 so far (if you don't count the hysterical Aqua Teen Hunger Force Boston terrorism scare, that is. I mean, come on.) is the Met's live matinee broadcasts in HD in movie theaters across the globe. I've hit up two of these so far, I Puritani and The First Emperor (pictured), and they were spectacular. The sound and picture were crystal clear, and with multiple cameras showing the pit, backstage, the chorus, the main players, etc., you really do get a comprehensive perspective of all the frenetic majesty of a live opera production.

So: You're getting an orchestra seat for under $20, AND you can eat popcorn and drink Cherry Coke. It's really great. Check it out.