Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Reasons That It Is Good To Be A Twins Fan:

*All of this happened today*

1. Joe Mauer and Johan Santana were named to the All-Star Game! Yes!

2. We swept the AL monthly awards:
- Player of the Month: Joe Mauer
(Runner-up: Justin Morneau)
- Pitcher of the Month: Johan Santana
(Runner-up: Francisco Liriano)
- Rookie of the Month: Francisco Liriano
Up For Consideration: Jason Kubel)

So, as you see, we even got the runner-up votes! Amazing. This is the first time ever that one team has swept the awards like that. Hot damn.

3. Justin Morneau hit his 21st dinger of the season, and it's still before the All-Star Game.

4. Francisco Liriano! He had a career-high 12 Ks today and pitched eight shut-out innings. Hothothot.

5. We completed a perfect homestand today with three consecutive series sweeps. The last time we won ten straight was in 1985. We have turned this team around from one that was eight games below .500 to one that is ten above .500 in four weeks. FOUR WEEKS. Now, if we can get the b***h Sox and Tiggers to start losing games... hee.

------------------------

Really, the team chemistry right now is amazing. I haven't seen the likes of this from this team for a while. Sure, they've had back-to-back-to-back division championships, but they still weren't meshing as well as a team as they are now. It gives me goosebumps to think about what this group of guys could accomplish this season if they keep this up.

- I love love LOVE having Little Nicky Punto over at 3B. He is doing so well there - he can get to balls and turn plays that T-Fatista never would have even come close to. I like having that fire over in the corner. I adore his scrappiness and his blinding speed - I'd say he's the fastest everyday player on the team, now that Ford's been out of most of the games. He's also batting well, so bonus!

- Redmond is the best backup catcher anyone could ever ask for, and he's comfortable with his role on this team, which is so nice. The fact that his bat can rival Mauer's so closely as a second-string guy is mindblowing. He's a swell dude, too, and is definitely one of the leaders of this team. I would almost go as far as to say that he is THE leader in the clubhouse, even above Torii. He is so well-liked and respected in this ballclub, and deservedly so.

- Bartlett and Kubel are having a really good go at it right now. Kubel's bat is pretty damn toasty, if not hot, and Bart's glove is impeccable. I love watching that boy stab the balls right out of the air. Sooo nice.

- Cuddyer! Cuddles is fantastic this year. I'm so happy to see him finally getting some major fan support. He's done amazing things this season. I knew he had talent before, but to see him hone it so well over the offseason has been a treat indeed. I SO wrote him in on all 150 25 of my All-Star ballots. His accomplishments have been huge. Yay, DJ Cuddles! We love you.

- Hunter. Man, you wouldn't know that Torii has 13 dingers by looking at his average. He's been on a cold streak as of late, but with the grand slam and the solo homer this past week, one can only hope that his bat is getting hot again. His glove certainly never cooled off, though!

- The ENTIRE PITCHING STAFF = SMOKIN'. Santana, Rincon, Liriano, Nathan, and Reyes, all with ERA's under 3.0. How amazing is that? The highest ERA on the team is Lohse's at 8.31, but only because he blew many goats at the beginning of the season. He's improved much since coming back up from his demotion to AAA. Silva's still hovering at 6.62, but we all have to remember how many donkeys HE blew at the beginning of the season, too. His June ERA was, like, 2-something.

All in all, everyone's doing so nicely right now (except for a select few). Ford is still struggling at the plate, which breaks my heart. He does so much more when he has consistent playing time, but with Kubel up and unning and Stewart back and Cuddles having such a successful season, there just isn't room for him and his mediocre bat. He's still my Boyfriend #1, though. I love Lew. He's so great. He'll come back around. I just hope it's sooner rather than later. When he's playing well, he is a huge asset to this team. Another one that I hope shapes up is White. He had a really nice BA last year, but he is doing NOTHING for us, much like T-Fat. I feel bad for the guy, but I will be surprised if we call him back up from Rochester after this rehabilitation assignment. With Stewart back and going 4-for-4 in the DH spot during his first game back , I just don't know if there's a place for poor Rondell.

Well, as you can see,. I can go on forever about my boys and this rollercoaster season they're having. I know I've already bored you to tears, so I'll make myself stop now wink

Twins = heart

THREE road wins.

That's right, rabbit - we swept the Pirates today! Great performances from Redmond, Punto, and Morneau. Even Ford had a decent day. heart Santana only allowed one run - the second came off of Eyre.

Redmond made a great play at the plate to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring and had two RBI. Morneau batted in three runs on a double. Ford made a GREAT baserunning decision and scored, along with making a couple of pretty catches. Punto was his speedy, scrappy self with a bunt that had it not been bobbled by the pitcher, he STILL would have outrun. Hunter hit a solo dinger for our first run.

The Pirates' Perez pitched a very good game, which doesn't show from the final score, but he only allowed one of our eight runs. I'd say he even pitched better than El Presidente today. Very nice performance.

Next up: Houston after an off day tomorrow.

That's the sound that the ball makes every time Fransico Liriano pitches. It sails right past the batter. Fan. Fan. Fan. I love that kid.

We've pulled off TWO road wins so far. Two ROAD wins. Two road WINS. In a row! I can hardly believe it. The win tonight gave us our longest winning streak of the season (6 games). The good Doc was there for a dinger last night, and Kubel and Tiffee had back-to-back ones today, in addition to another Doc solo dinger. Morneau's was his 16th so far this seaon and his 53rd RBI. He's beginning to shape up into that 40-HR hitter we'd hoped for when we first signed him. Took him long enough. Eh, Justin? Eh?

Liriano recorded a career-high 11 K's in last night's game. Boof started out well today, but slowly collapsed and was taken out after three innings of work, to be replaced by Kyle Lohse. Yes. Kyle. Not evil-twin Lyle. He struck out people! He picked people off! He did a GOOD JOB! As did Crain after him! It was amazing - two of the notoriously sucky bullpen pitchers were kicking a** and taking names today. Heart.

May the record reflect that I love at least hearing pitchers hit. I get to actually see it tomorrow, and it's Santana! Squee!

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

Twins take Boston down one.more.time tonight with a final score of 5-3. I didn't get to see or hear the game, so I don't have much to say about it here. I did hear that Kubel got another dinger (three games in a row for him getting a home run). Daaamn.

GTX is no longer a Twin. neutral He got traded back to the Reds for a minor league outfielder. I have mixed feelings about this trade. TR has an eagle's eye for talent, so I'm sure everything will turn out well. But yeah... so long, GTX. I wish you the best of luck back with the Reds. Thanks for being my flirt buddy.

Holy effin' s**t! Justin Morneau with a grand slam! That's two slams in two nights, kiddoes, in case you 've lost count. I mean, with four of them coming in the past week alone, I can understand how the numbers could become a bit fuggled in your heads. I agree, it is mind-bending.

I see the question in people's eyes: "Sixteen total runs in on just four hits? But how can that be?" It had been a mystery in the Twins clubhouse for many moons. Fortunately, a crack team has gotten down to buisness and showed us all exactly what a grand slam is, because they KNEW we'd all forgotten what one looked like. I, for one, could stand for a few more demonstrations. heart

What's all the more amazing is that we won with such a huge margin even though Brad Radke was our starter. I mean, really. He loaded the bases in the first. "Typical Brad," we all thought. But then the magic happened and he got out of the inning. He only allowed one run. Then we had Eyre and Reyes go out and do their jobs and they did them well, and all was fine and dandy. Then Kyle Lohse got called to the mound in the eighth. I don't know about everyone else, but I was nervous, regardless of the fact that we had a nice fat seven-run lead. You never want to underestimate the Sucky Powers of Kyle Lohse. Somehow, magically, he struck out people and didn't allow a single run. Truly an amazing night.

What a win. I LOVE taking the series from the ECBS!

P.S. It was awesome having Bart back (he got two hits), and you may not have heard me before, but Fatista is gone (at least until September, I guess)! Also, Nick Punto at third equals swoonage. He was getting to balls that T-Fat would never have gotten close to and was making some terrific throws. Why haven't we pout him there more often? i just don't get it. However, he's there now and he's hitting something like .400 in his past eleven games, so hopefully he'll have the spot for the majority of the time with the occasional platoon from Rodriguez. That'd be so aces.

P.P.S The Red Sox batboy ROCKS. He's my favorite Sock now all because of how he tackled one of the jerkoffs that charged the field tonight. It was so great. Many kudos to you, Mr. Batboy. I tip my hat.

The recent "Free Bartlett" campaign begun by Batgirl and her Batlings has finally paid off. T-Fat is being sent down! Ahahahahahaahaahha! No more fishflop at 3B. That's so exciting. Okay, yeah, sure, he had his moments, and of course it's nice when he's on his game, but that just does NOT happen often enough. So, to Mr. Batista I say "solongseeya, dude." Maybe we'll reconnect in September or something.

P.S. Shed some weight while you're at it - I still can't believe you showed up for Spring Training packing all those extra pounds, dude.

Jason effin' Kubel for the grand slam win! I'm still a bit shaky over here with the excitement. That was one helluva game - the adrenaline was flowing from beginning to end. First Santana vs. Schilling in an AMAZING pitchers' duel, then the extra-innings showdown. Man.

Anyhoo, I like how Kubel's trying to prove me wrong. Earlier this year I was bitching about him being a starter, 'cause yeah, he was lighting things up in Ft. Meyers, but real games just ain't quite like Spring Training ones, ya know? Anyway, he did well enough in ST that he earned a starting position with us. The first game he went out into RF and commenced to do nothing. Zip. Nada. He continued to do nothing for the next several games. He was completely worthless, and was taking a position away from my Lew. Hence, I rejoiced when he was sent back down to Rochester.

Also hence, I was pissed about him being called back up. I thought, "The hell? Why would we want to fill a bench spot with a lump of clay? Because, and I quote, 'His bat sounds different when he hits the ball?' No, not good enough." And so I bitched.

Kubel has since gone on to prove me wrong in the past six games, now, with his hitting streak. It's such a 180-degree change from the first two weeks of the season, and I couldn't be happier. Congratulations on your grand slam, Kubel! It's nice having you up in the bigs, kid.

P.S. This may be the real measure of success for your hit, Jason: even Dazzle sounded excited as he called the play! I can't remember the last time that happened.

Johan Santana kicks everyone's asses. Even yours.

He got his 1,000th strikeout tonight against Big Papi David Ortiz. Hothothot.

Thirteen Ks for Johan tonight, just two short of a record-breaking night. Hail to the Chief!