All posts by freealonzo

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game 99 — Twins at Blue Jays

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All Star Game in the rear view mirror. Trade talks getting dicey. Milwaukee fans acting douchy. Game 99. Wow, where has the season gone?

Twins in their second game against Toronto as they put Jose Berrios on the mound. Berrios has been a bright spot for the 2018 Twins and has been everything I would want from a 24 year old pitcher. Let's hope he continues to improve. Toronto with a new guy Ryan Borucki, who has only pitched 23 innings this year but is getting about a strikeout an inning.

Fun fact: Today's starting pitchers are only 2 months apart in age. 6:10p start.

C'mon Twins, let's smoke those Jays! (that's legal now in Ontario, right?)

Friday Music Day

FMD — How do you listen?

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Listening to music has changed a lot over my lifetime, especially over the last 5-10 years. When I was a teen, we'd go to friends' houses, just to listen to music. We'd have a bunch of albums out and play music while we pored over the album covers, lyrics, and liner notes. When I was home I had a nice set up with headphones and a bean bag chair.

Walkmans, CDs, Napster, Ipods, Zune, streaming, phones, and now smart speakers have changed all that. My kids never had friends over to listen to music.

I really dug the .mp3 player and remember when the little Samsung device I picked up (and still have) played 125 songs. It was glorious. I have gone through many Ipods and still listen to one today as I really haven't downloaded music on to a I-phone. It makes me sad that that the I-pod is being phased out and when my current one eventually dies, that will probably be it. I also haven't invested in cordless speakers either as I no longer listen to music while biking or walking the dog, etc. Besides the I-pod, I listen at home via my Mac and Itunes via a nice Sony blue tooth sound system.

I've been thinking of signing up for Apple Music and just accessing music from my phone/watch lately which has gotten me nostalgic. So HOW do you consume music. Is it just through your phone and bluetooth speakers? Any other Ipod users still out there? Anyone gone completely old school and vinyl only?

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game 89 — Royals at Twins

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Nothing fixes a reeling baseball team like a homestand against the 2018 Orioles and Royals as Twins look to add to their 5 game win streak. Aaron Slegers on the mound for the Twins after a nice outing last week. He also pitched decently six weeks ago against the Royals. Ian Kennedy pitching for KC and his 1-8 record reflects pitching for a team already 40 games (!) under .500 on July 10th.

First pitch at 7:10 at Target Field, weather should be nice and clear by that time too.

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game 82 — Twins v. Brew Crew

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First half of the season done and the Twins are um... on a 70-92 pace. Ugh. This first half has stunk, the Twins stink, injuries, suspensions, poor base running, bullpen disasters, walk off losses, disappointing performances by key players.... You name it, The Twins built this.

Jake Odorizzi against Junior Guerra today. Odorizzi righted his ship last start as he went 6 strong innings after a bunch of disastrous starts. Guerra is one of those decent guys that the Brewers typically toss out there.

3:10p game and its only broadcast on something called Facebook Live. Seems like a good place to have the game as only the olds are on Facebook these days. Also, Willians Astudillo playing second base today, so that's something. Wasn't he a catcher? At this rate he may take a 9th inning pitching spot before he sees time behind the plate.

Go Twins.

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game 75 — Twins at White Sox

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Twins embark on the great Upper Midwest Baseball Tour(TM) with a three game stint against the Southside Pale Hosers. At 25 games under .500, the Sox are as bad as advertised so it would be nice to take all three games this week before heading into the friendly confines of Wrigley over the weekend.

Lance Lynn on the mound for the Twins. He's as excruciating slow as ever, but at least he's been productive with a 4-1 record and 1.73 ERA in his last 5 starts. Reynaldo Lopez on the mound for the White Sox, coming off a pretty bad outing against Cleveland (or was it Toronto?). Game may take 3.5 hours but I like the Twins chances.

First pitch at The Rate. Potential for rain is receding in Chicago, so hopefully the tour can start off with a win.

Friday Music Day

FMD — Travel Music

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Today I'll be off on my annual 175-mile weekend bike trip on the Paul Bunyan trail. It's a lot of fun and even though I will burn probably over 10,000 calories riding my bike, I will also consume close to that same amount of beer (and food).

I'm long past the day when I would listen to music while I rode, way too dangerous for this guy with all the distracted drivers out there but I know people who still do. But it got me thinking about travel music. Is there a certain band or kind of music you like to listen to while traveling? For me driving doesn't matter, I can take any kind of music. However, for some reason I have always thought R.E.M. goes well with train travel. Back when I lived out east and also was in Europe, I would always listen to R.E.M., it just kind of brought me back in time and was complimentary to the motion of the train.

Any specific travel music you enjoy? Or not. Don't forget to drop your lists.

2018 Twins Game Logs

Nice Game 69 — Red Sox and Twins

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The Boston Red Sox come into Target Field for their annual sojourn to Minneapolis. After a blistering hot start, Boston find themselves in a virtual tie for first in the AL East with the Yankees. Given that they are 25 games over .500, I think it’s pretty safe to assume that either the Red Sox or Yankees will be one of the two AL Wild Card teams this fall.

Jose Berrios on the mound for the Twins and he’s been lights out again recently. Chris Sale for the Sox and has put up some good numbers. But it’s the Boston bats that the Twins need to worry about as the Red Sox lead the league in Slugging and among the league leaders in OPS, OPS+ and runs scored (5.08 runs per game). Oh and former Twin, and decent dude, Eddy Nunez playing second in place of the injured Dustin Pedroia.

Rain should let up by the 7:10p first pitch and given that Sales and Berrios work fast, it could be quick game.

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game 63 — Old Gardys versus New Gardys Round 2

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It seems like I just wrote this game log. Twins and Tigers battling for second place... Twins need to win these kind of games if they are going to make any noise in the later half of the season.... Fun playing against Gardy again... Basically the Twins have been treading water for a while now so it may be sink or swim time.

Jake Odorizzi on the mound for the Twins. I've liked what he's given the team, and expect more of the same tonight. Blaine Hardy on for the Tigers and he's been decent this year as well.

6:10p start time. Hopefully the #mprraccoon caper will be over and we can concentrate on some AL Central Division baseball.

Friday Music Day

FMD — Liz Phair

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Liz Phair was at the Turf Club this past Monday. Since the Turf Club only holds 350 people it sold out immediately and I was bummed I couldn't get tix (or was unwilling to pay $150 for a ticket). By all accounts a great show. This was a short little tour of smaller clubs (her L.A. gig was in a 150 seat bar) and is basically a warm up for a larger tour that will hit First Avenue in September (also immediately sold out). Phair has somewhat kept in the public eye and has done some touring, but for some reason has seemed to spark more interest lately than in the immediate past. Not sure why, but it's welcome.

Any other acts, still around, you'd wish would have a second half career resurgence?

Drop your lists.

2018 Twins Game Logs

Game Log Games 56 and 57 — White Sox and Twins

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We have a doubleheader today and it's one of those old fashioned doubleheaders where they don't clear out the stadium between games. In celebration, we'll have a doubleheader game log too. No need to find a new game log for game two. All its all right here.

Twins against White Sox and again, if the they want to be competitive in the AL Central, sweeping the double against the Whities is imperative for the Twins.

Twins putting up a couple of rookies against Chicago. Fernando Romero in game 1, and Zack Little in game 2. According to the Strib, Zack Little was "acquired from the Yankees for Jaime Garcia last July, was 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA at Class AA Chattanooga before being promoted to Class AAA Rochester. He’s 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in five outings for the Red Wings, including four starts. In 28 innings, Littell, 22, has given up eight earned runs on 20 hits and 10 walks with 30 strikeouts." he's only up for the doubleheader so hopefully he takes the opportunity to impress Molitor and the gang, while also enjoying some sweet big league perks.

White Sox are putting up someone called Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito who have records and stats you would associate with a team 20 games under .500 on June 5th. Both are young however. Not sure if they fit in the Sox overall plan.

First game at 3:10. Looks like a gorgeous day for baseball. Let's play two!