Next Wednesday I am heading down to Memphis and Nashville to go on a week-long musical pilgrimage. Sun Studio, Stax Musuem, Beale Street, Graceland, Ryman Auditorium, blues and country bars. I'm really looking forward to it. If anyone has been in those two cities and has recommendations for food and bars, hit me up. I'm not looking for the touristy places, but places the locals like to go to. Definitely Memphis bbq and Nashville hot chicken will be on the list.
Have you ever gone on a musical pilgrimage? Doesn't have to be a week long sojourn. Perhaps you went to the Surf Ballroom when passing through Clear Lake. Or went to Paisley Park. Maybe you checked out the Let it Be house in SW Minneapolis or walked across the street on Abbey Road in London. What was it like?
Twelve games left. Then we can concentrate on what promises to be some pretty cool playoff match-ups. But until that time we still have some Twins Baseball left. Twins-Tigers in the second game of their second to last season series with the Tigers as they lock up second place in the AL Central, with a magic number of 4.
Jake Odorizzi on the mound for the Twins coming off his nearly ho-hit appearance against the Yankees. Daniel Norris hurling for the Tigers, looking for his first win of the season.
Oh and Miguel Sano is back in the line-up, playing Third Base and batting 7th
Game at 6:10p, let's go Twins and get that much closer to locking second place!
Twenty Games left. Dreaded Yankees in town. Beautiful September evening. Baseball. 9/11 Tributes.
Yankees putting up Sonny Gray, who is considered a spot starter, so that the regular starters can get a bit of a breather. Makes sense. Yankees have won 9 straight against the Twins, and are pretty much ensconced into the first Wild Card Slot. Why not use a spot starter for this game?
Tyler Duffy is the Opener for the Twins with Kohl Stewart the Primary pitcher. Stewart did pretty well in this role last week so hopefully Duffy can do his part in the first and second innings.
So, it's after Labor Day and the Twins are just about done (Tragic Number is 12). Byron Buxton is exiled, Sano is mired in a horrible slump, Someone called Johnny Field is playing in the outfield and Chris Gimenez is making "contributions." Makes me almost pine for the days when I paid attention to NFL football. Almost.
Anyway Twins play the Astros so you can see Justin Verlander pitch. He's not the dominant pitcher he was a few years back but he doesn't have to be given the Astros' lineup. Also 240 Strikeouts, 181 Innings Pitched, WHIP of 0.95 are all among the league leaders. Trevor May is the Opener for the Twins, I couldn't find who is coming in after him. Sorry for the half-bakedness.
EDIT: Apparently Kohl Stewart is the Follower tonight.
If it's Tuesday must be another series against the soon to be 2018 Central Division Champion Cleveland Baseball Club, Inc. With the Twins' Tragic Number at 18, it's now all about playing the string out for the home town squad; maybe checking in on some prospects and ideas for 2019.
Gibby on the mound for the Twins. He's been decent this year, although his last start, not so much. Same could be said for Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco. Game time at 6:10p.
If you were introducing a favorite band to someone who hadn’t heard of them, what three albums would you suggest they listen to get a full accounting of the band? No greatest hits albums of course, but three albums that really define the artist so that that person than go on discover more. For Guided By Voices it’s really tough. I can think of five, but bringing it down to three is excruciating. I would of course include Bee Thousand, then Propeller. That last album would have to be between Alien Lanes, Mag Earwhig, and Do the Collapse. Probably with Do the Collapse winning out because Alien Lanes is too similar to Bee Thousand and Mag Earwhig may be a little to weird for first time listeners. Do the Collapse is a good introduction to the big rock sound.
Wilco is another tough one. Yankee Foxtrot Hotel and Sky Blue Sky are in there but what is #3? Being There?
Anyway, what three albums defines your favorite artists. Oh and drop ‘em if you got ‘em.
Twins play the White Sox at "The Rate" tonight as they head into the last 6 weeks of the season. Last month I was at Guaranteed Rate Ballpark to see a Sox-Royals game and was pleasantly surprised at the ballpark. It was intimate with many "modern" facilities, open concourses, etc. A much more blue collar crowd than what you would find at Target Field, plus a lot of young, rowdy people. It was a fun Saturday afternoon. Interesting in that it feels like a suburban location. Ample parking, virtually no restaurants or bars in the neighborhood, view of the Interstate.
Jose Berrios up against Michael Kopech tonight. This will be the Major League debut for Kopech and Sox fans are excited. He was the key piece in the Chris Sales trade a couple of years ago and he is a 23-year old flame thrower, touching 100 mph with his fast ball (duh) relatively consistently. Apparently there is video of him hitting 110 mph on a radar gun, but some stories are that was rigged. He walks a ton too, which must be terrifying for a batter. Should be interesting to watch, the White Sox sure hope his debut is better than Gonsalves was last night.
Pirates come to town for a rare visit against our battlin' Minnesota Twins. Season previews had the Pirates tanking this year so their record of 3 games over .500 and 5 games out of the second Wild Card slot had the Pittsburgh front office scrambling to add players. Which meant hello Chris Archer. Besides Archer, I didn't recognize a single player on the Pirates. I am sure the WGOM Allegheny version of this game log is probably saying the same thing about the Twins (Joe Mauer Exempted of course).
Jameson Taillon on the mound for the Pirates, who I think pitched decently against the Twins way back in April. He had a nice 2-run complete game last time out and has decent stats for the year. Jake Odorizzi for the Twins. He's been kinda o.k. but not good enough for me to look up his stats.
First pitch at 7:10p Entering the dog days of the season Citizens.
10. Number of games the Twins find themselves behind Cleveland? The number of runs they were outscored by last night? Tom Kelly's number? All three of course.
So the Twins in the second of a 4 game tilt against Cleveland in a lost season. Adalberto Mejia (I call him Bert) pitched well last week against the Spiders, so let's see if he can do it again. Carlos Carrasco, who pitched 7.1 scoreless innings against the Twins last week, is the opponent.
6:10p start, although it sounds like some rain may delay the game. Go Twins.
Ok. Now that the trading deadline has passed and we get to see what kind of team the Twins will field for the rest of the year (or at least until the August 31 Waiver Deadline). Lance Lynn? See ya! Zach Duke? Um, I kind of remember you. Ryan Pressly and E2? Sob. Doze? We had some good times, let’s focus on those hm’k? On the addition side hello again Miguel Sano, Addison Reed, and Trevor May… and hey new comer, Tyler Austin, welcome aboard. Now go out smash some taters, would you please.
Clevelanders still playing for 2018 and they got Trevor Bauer on the mound. He’s been a workhorse for the Spiders and coming off a nice outing against the Pirates. 192 strikeouts in 147 innings means that Sano will probably be muttering to himself as he walks back to the dugout a few times tonight. Gibby on the mound and boy am I happy I can still write that.
7:10p first pitch and a good night to head out to the ballpark. The Twins could probably use a little emotional support.
