Weirdness

Ive seen, heard and read a few weird things the last day or so. At least they’re weird to me. When that kind of thing happens to most people, they may have one or two family members and/or a few friends to tell about the weirdness. But most people don’t have blogs (though it sure seems like it sometimes, doesn’t it?). Anyway, I do have a blog so I get to share the weirdness with all you poor souls who stopped by to read this.

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About 12:30 Sunday, I checked out of my hotel and walked a couple of blocks toward Target Field. I thought I would see what sort of price tickets were going for at game time. I knew I didn’t want to stay through the entire game, but if I could get a cheap ticket, I thought I might watch 3-4 innings before heading home.

I left without a ticket sometime near the bottom of the first inning. It was weird to me that there were several ticket “brokers” on the street corners who apparently preferred to eat their remaining tickets rather than sell them for much, if any, below face value. You would think even selling at a “loss” would be better than losing the entire amount paid for that ticket. But I guess not.

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I got to Albert Lea about the 7th inning and decided to stop to eat at Applebees, figuring they had televisions that might be tuned to the Twins game. They did and I watched the final couple of innings there. That wasn’t weird.

What was weird, however, was walking in to the restaurant and finding a picture of myself on the wall in their waiting area.

Granted, it was not a recent picture. In fact, it was a picture of the 1968 conference champion HS baseball team from Albert Lea… a team my dad coached and that I was a batboy for. So yeah, seeing that was a bit weird… but it brought back some great memories.

Future blogger in the circle

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Twitter is someplace you kind of expect to read weird stuff, especially from professional athletes who, it seems, can’t resist Tweeting to the world words that they would not likely utter out loud in public. So it’s no surprise, really, when you see something weird there.

I’m not sure what to make of it, yet… but I found this Tweet from Danny Valencia a bit odd (maybe not quite weird… but let’s see if there’s a story behind it at some point):

dannyvalencia19: Nobody likes a tattle tale, it seems like it’s a common trait of a slightly older generation… #yeaisaidit

Seriously, what’s that all about? I guess since my generation is more than just “slightly” older, I shouldn’t take offense… or mention that people of a slightly younger generation seem to share a common trait of not being able to understand being accountable for their actions. Yeah, I said that. Maybe Danny was just joking around. If so then, yeah, so am I 🙂

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Also from Twitter, we have this exchange involving Twins President Dave St. Peter:

TwinsPrez: Wonder if Calvin ever had $115 million payroll RT @greglw3:@Neilson34 Worst offseason since Griffith let Bostock, Hisle, Campbell all leave.

So, if I’m reading that right, a couple of people Tweeted St. Peter with their opinion that this past offseason was a disaster of historic proportions… and St. Peter’s response was to point out his organization had bajillions of dollars at their disposal that Griffith never had? Huh? Doesn’t the fact that his organization had considerably more resources at their disposal than Griffith did just make the results all the more indefensible?

I like that St. Peter stays in touch with those of us among the great unwashed of Twinsville, but that response was just… well… weird.

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That’s enough weirdness for one day. I’m going to read for a bit. Actually, I’m currently reading “Those Guys Have All The Fun”... I just started it this week and I’ve been reading about the people who started ESPN. Yeah… they were very weird, too.

– JC

 

GameChat – Angels @ Twins #3, 1:10pm, FSN & am1500

So here we are once again with the Twins having a chance to win a three game series. We’ve been here before and been left disappointed, but I’ve got a good feeling about today.

I’ve got to pack up and get checked out of my hotel so I won’t be around for the chat today, but I expect those of you who are here to help the Twins bring in a W!

In transaction news, we’ve finally got Chuck James aboard the Twins’ train. James has arguably been the best relief pitcher in Rochester this season, but his arrival in Minnesota was delayed because he was not on the Twins’ 40-man roster. To make room for him, Tsuyoshi Nishioka was put on the 60-day DL. That’s no big deal because it’s retroactive to April 7, making him eligible to come off on June 7. He wasn’t likely to be ready before that anyway, since he’s just now starting to play in rehab games in Florida.

Jim Thome’s shoulder is sore, even after his cortisone shot, so he’s likely not available today.

ANGELS @ TWINS
Bourjos, CF Span, CF
Aybar, SS Casilla, A, 2B
Abreu, DH Kubel, DH
Hunter, To, RF Morneau, 1B
Callaspo, 3B Cuddyer, RF
Branyan, 1B Young, D, LF
Trumbo, 1B Valencia, 3B
Amarista, 2B Butera, C
Mathis, C Plouffe, SS
Haren, P Pavano, P

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
LA Angels 0 0 3 0 1 0 0 1 1 6 11 0
Minnesota 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 5 13 2

I listened to most of the game on the radio as I drove south of the Twin Cities and then stopped in Albert Lea to eat and watch the final 2-3 innings. It was good to see the guys not go down without a fight in the 9th, but this game should have been won.

Dan Gladden and Jack Morris were pretty tough on Trevor Plouffe for his defensive mistakes, and rightfully so. Plouffe is struggling at the position. But I couldn’t help but note that the broadcasters said virtually nothing about Justin Morneau’s defensive failings. Morneau is starting to find his stroke a bit at the plate and for that I’m thankful, but he is flat out not playing good defense at 1B. His play at 1B was just as responsible for runs being scored that shouldn’t have as Plouffe’s play at SS was… and he should be held accountable by someone. So I guess that will be me.