Hopefully, the Twins win in less exciting fashion.

When I was growing up, Memorial Day had nothing to do with mattress sales and used car blowouts. My brothers and I would get up in the morning, put on our uniforms and pedal our bikes to Memorial Park, where a 100-foot tall limestone obelisk marks the reburial spot of some 1200 pioneers and soldiers who died defending the village and fort from attack during the American Indian Wars in the 1790s. My older brothers would meet up with their Boy Scout troop and I would go with my Cub Scout pack and we would march in the parade. The women lining the street wore knee-length summer dresses and stylish little hats, and many of the men in shirtsleeves wore neckties. When the parade ended at the Wabash River bridge downtown, the mayor would make a short speech and the honor guard from the American Legion post would lay a memorial wreath in the river and fire a salute with white rifles to those who had sacrificed their lives in duty to country. After the parade it was off to the town park for the Jaycees' barbecue chicken dinner and an afternoon of Legion baseball games. I don't know if it gets any more American than that.

The Twins kick off summer today by opening a four-game series with the Texas Rangers at Target Field (I'll be at game 4 on Thursday celebrating Elder Daughter's 21st birthday). The Twins send Kevin Correia (2-5, 6.52 ERA) to the mound, while Texas counters with sophomore Nick Tepesch (1-0, 3.09 ERA) in just his third start of the season. In a couple of key roster moves, the Twins added Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia back to the active roster and optioned Chris Colabello and Chris Hermmann to AAA Rochester. So we should have seen about all of the infielder-playing-outfield shenanigans we need to see this year. Play ball!