All posts by Twayn

Bats: Right Throws: Right

2024 Game 121: Rangers vs. Twins

After sweeping the White Sux to start the month, the Twins have only managed to play .500 ball in their last ten games, the same record as Cleveland which is riding a five-game winning streak. So we're not getting much help from other teams in our quest to top the division, but we're not helping ourselves enough, either. Still, at less than five games back if we can gain a game a week on the Guardians we'll catch them by mid-September. At any rate, we have ourselves a pennant race. The pitching staff is depleted and we're missing a franchise player, but  the young guns have stepped up in key spots to help  keep this race close. So while the rest of the Twins' season may not be brilliant, it's not likely to be dull, either.

Bailey Q.S. Ober will ascend the mound tonight for the Twins. He's been as solid as a sequoia and just as tall. With 22 games under his belt this year he's notched 12 wins and 5 losses, pitching to a 3.52 ERA, a .97 WHIP and a .201 OBA. He's struck out 137 batters and walked only 31.  The Rangers counter with lefthander Cody Bradford in his 14th major league start since his debut last year. He's pitched well this season, an ERA of 3.60, WHIP of .93 and a .209 OBA. The closeness of those numbers is kind of striking and I have no idea what it might mean if anything.

Play ball!

 

2024 Game 69 (quit yer gigglin’): Athletics at Twins

The Twins' homestand continues tonight as they kick off a four-game series with the 26-and-44 Athletics. We currently stand eight games back of Cleveland and three behind Kansas City and just three games ahead of the Tigers. It doesn't sit well to be the third-place team in what is widely considered a weak division, but here we are. If we want to gain ground we have to win these games and series against weaker teams, because we sure seem to crumble against the good ones. So maybe that's what we are this year, a little less mediocre than Detroit but a lot better than the White Sox. And friends, that is not an enviable position.

Joe Ryan gets the mound to start for the Twins. His 3.30 ERA,  85 strikeouts and 0.97 WHIP over 13 starts are better than his 4-5 record would indicate, but run support has been scant when the ass bats show up. Luis Medina gets the call tonight for the A's in just the third start of the year for the 25-year old righthander. His short sample size ERA is 5.23 and he's struck out 7 batters over 10 innings. Who know what he'll do tonight.

Play ball!

Lounge Lizards

We have this bottle of dark rum we got to try a recipe we didn't care for all that much and another one that we did. The rum is a Dominican brand called Ron Alegro (the affordable Anejo, not the spendy XO), I don't know much about rum but I sampled this at Total Wine and Liquor and it was pretty smooth and sweet so it went home with me. Anyway, we wanted to try some more rum cocktails so we started looking around for other recipes. We experimented with a couple that could make it into the rotation and finally settled on a favorite - the Lounge Lizard, a variation of the classic Cuba Libre combining rum, lime and Coca-Cola. The Lounge Lizards adds a twist of nutty sweetness with the addition of a little Amaretto to the mix. Here's the recipe:

1 1/2 oz dark rum
1/2 oz Amaretto
4 oz Coke
Squeeze of lime

This one you can just mix in a highball glass with ice and serve. Excellent for sipping on the veranda.

2024 Game 62: Twins at LeBronx

The bad news is we have to play one more series with New York. The good news is it's the Mets, not the Yankees. I think I can say without much argument that among all our rivals the Yankees are the the one true nemesis of the Twins, the Cobra Kai to our Danny LaRusso. In ancient Greek mythology, Nemesis was the dispenser of misfortune to those mortals displaying hubris. It was Nemesis who lured Narcissus to the pond where he fell in love with his own reflection, wasted away and died. How ironic that the team with the most hubris ever should be the nemesis of our humble Twins.

It's Pablo day in the Bronx. Lopez is 5-5 thanks to some spotty run support this year. His ERA sits at 4.84 thanks to a few outings that snowballed, but he does have 75 strikeouts on the ledger. The Yankees will send Marcus Stroman to the mound to start the game. He's a Yankee so screw him and the stats he rode in on. Stats are meaningless when the mere sight of pinstripes turns your team into a quivering mass of fetid failure. Unless, of course, you're measuring the depths of despair.

This is our last chance to beat the Yankees this season. It could definitely happen and I have a feeling tonight's the night, you just have to be believe. And if you really and truly believe that, you might be interested in a very good deal on  one of the many fine bridges connecting the five boroughs.

Play ball!

The Rally Cocktail

If you find yourself torn between coffee or an after dinner drink, or you find your energy flagging on a Saturday night but you want to rally, or when, as JJ Cale put it, your day is done and you want to ride on, coffee-based cocktails might be just the thing. The last couple of times I've partied with my work colleagues at a hotel bar the espresso martini was all the rage.

One of the more famous coffee drinks is the Dude's signature beverage, the white Russian. There are, of course, different approaches to making coffee cocktails and many variations to explore, I think some dark rum and coffee mixing may be in my near future.  Some of these cocktails use coffee liqueur like Kahlua, which has rum as its base spirit, in the mix and others use straight coffee, but the recipe we tried uses an espresso simple syrup that's just equal parts espresso and sugar. We had some Cafe Bustelo in the kitchen so that's what we used.

It was a bit later than usual last weekend when we got around to settling down in the ultra lounge to catch up on some TV. We had at least a couple of hours of programming to watch and we were already a little tired. That's when Mrs. Twayn, who was perusing her iPad, found a recipe for the espresso Old Fashioned. We had a few each, felt nice and relaxed and still managed to stay awake for Welcome to Wrexham, a new episode of Hacks, and (most of) a Saturday Night Live recording. Here's the recipe:

2 oz bourbon (I'm liking Old Forrester these days) or rye
1 oz espresso simple syrup
4-6 dashes orange bitters
Orange peel or slice

Plop ice into a mixing glass, add liquid ingredients and stir.
Strain into short glasses filled with ice, squeeze the orange peel or slice over the top and drop it in.
Enjoy in moderation, you are still old and need your sleep.

2024 Game 56 – City of Fountains vs. Land O’ Lakes

DAY GAME ALERT!
First pitch @ 12:10 p.m. CT

On the Twins website today, the top story is about Bailey Ober's complete futility against the Royals. Ober has a 7.71 ERA in nine career starts against KC, and a 3.36 ERA against everyone else. So Jeff A is not the only one to notice that the Royals just seem to own Ober.

Today Chris Paddack takes the mound for the Twins, countered by Brady Singer for the Royals. Paddack has been a fairly reliable mid-rotation starter this year, pitching to a 4.39 ERA in ten starts. Singer has been quite good this season, sporting a 2.63 ERA and a WHIP of just 1.12.

The ass bats were back on full display last night and the Twins futility at the plate was palpable. What was last year a weak division that we won fairly handily seems much more competitive this year. KC has been building up for a few years and looks like a real contender. But the team to beat to get to the top has to be Cleveland. They have been our closest competition in the division the last couple of years and this year they are playing like champions again. But there's lots of season left and we all know about the sudden reversals of fortune that can occur in sports. Hell, that's what makes it worth watching.

Play ball!

The Hindley Street Country Club – I Can Dream About You

I was an early fan of the 1984 cult classic Streets of Fire with music by Jim Steinman, Ry Cooder, Bob Seger, Tom Petty, and Stevie Nicks. Also this catchy tune that Dan Hartman wrote for Hall & Oates but ended up recording himself. I don't care for the Hall & Oates update they did in the aughts, but I found this version from the ultimate Australian cover band that I kind of like.

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