All posts by Twayn

Bats: Right Throws: Right
2021 Twins Game Logs

2021 Game 97: Angeli versus Gemini

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Game Time - 7:10 p.m. CT
Gates Open - 5:30 p.m. CT

During the  last home stand I noticed a few ushers sitting in the bleachers during BP collecting baseballs hit up there. I asked one of them about it and he said they give them to kids during the ballgame. I think I'm gonna be one of those guys now. Lots of promotions at the ballpark this weekend. Tonight is Celebrate Diversity day with free shirts to the first 10,000 fans. Friday is postgame fireworks and Josh Donaldson Bobblehead night with the wobbly souvenirs going to the first 10,000 fans through the gates. Saturday and Sunday are Back to School weekend with an undisclosed back to school item going the the first 5,000 fans 12 and under each day.

My wife is convinced that every year the Twins get on a roll of winning right before the All-Star break and then go on a losing streak after the break. I haven't done the research on previous years yet, but this year we won the last four games before the break and lost the first three games after, and we've only won two and lost five since coming off the mid-season intermission. That's mainly due to bad luck from not playing very good.

Kenta Maeda (4-3) today gets his 16th start of the year for the Twins. He's sitting on a 4.71 ERA, almost a point higher than his career total, but he's got 79 Ks in about 73 innings. He's only walked 14 batters,  though, and over his last seven starts his WHIP is a meager 1.14.

Andrew Heaney (5-7) gets the start for the Angels today. He sports a 5.56 ERA, also about a point higher than his career total. He's lefthanded and breathing. Play ball!

2021 Twins Game Logs

2021 Game 82+4: Tigers at Twins

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Game Time - 7:10 pm CDT

The Twins kick off their last series before the All-Star break against the Tigers tonight, and their last series at home until the Angels come to town on the 22nd. At 35-50, the Twins sit 15 games below .500 and in sole possession of last place in the division 15.5 games behind the Pale Hosers. I have to think that Messieurs Falvey and Levine are working overtime to figure out how to extract the most possible value for any player that's not a building block. At this point they have to have a chop shop mentality - strip  it to the frame, get what you can for the parts, and start rebuilding this broken down team.

There are no promotional giveaways tonight (there is a UND special ticket package), but tomorrow's game features the baby blue Twins replica jerseys to the first 10,000 fans, along with post-game fireworks. Saturday is the 30 HR Bomba Club bobblehead giveaway, and Sunday they're handing out Twins photo magnet schedules. The team has been drawing close to 20,000 fans per game at home since going to 100% capacity, even with the poor caliber of play on the field, so I'm thinking there's just a ton of pent up demand to take me out to the ballgame and low quality performance is not going to deter most people from coming out. It's nice being part of the ballpark experience for folks, but standing on concrete for six hours sure does take a toll on your lower extremities, and I'm working three out of four games this series starting tonight. I'm hoping for fast games with no extra innings, and any wins that the Twins might stumble into are a bonus. J.A. Happ on the hill for the Twins tonight, southpaw Tarik Skubal starting for the Tigers. Play ball!

Friday Music Day

Friday Music Day – Bluegrass and High Hopes

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We had some exciting musical news in the family recently. For many years my big brother Boe has been writing songs as a hobby and he's made a lot of friends and connections along the way. Well, one thing led to another and a couple of weeks ago he went to Nashville and signed a contract with bluegrass publisher Billy Blue Records for a song he wrote called Widow's Bridge. They'll be recording a demo soon and then start shopping it around to bands. No guarantees in the music business, of course, but he's pretty excited about it and I'm real happy for my big brother. So drop your lists, and if you have a favorite bluegrass tune to share, holler it out. I'm real partial to John Hartford's take on this classic, myself.