KL – Knuckleballs

GameChat – Angels @ Twins #2, 7:10pm

Posted on 16 April, 2013 by KL

I’m finally posting my first GameChat of the season, and I’ll be around for at least part of the game! The MLB At Bat app told me the Twins won last night, so here’s hoping for more of the same this evening. CapitalBabs and her other half will be in attendance at the game, and while it’s not especially warm, it is sunny, so perhaps it won’t be bitterly cold?

LA Angels	@	Minnesota
Bourjos, CF		Dozier, 2B
Trout, LF		Mauer, C
Pujols, DH		Morneau, 1B
Hamilton, RF		Plouffe, 3B
Trumbo, 1B		Doumit, DH
Kendrick, 2B		Parmelee, RF
Iannetta, C		Ramirez, W, LF
Jimenez, 3B		Hicks, CF
Romine, SS		Florimon, SS
Vargas, P		Pelfrey, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
LA Angels	0	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	10	0
Minnesota	0	3	1	1	2	0	1	0	x	8	15	1

Babs here – yay for seeing live baseball!! Yes, it was chilly at the ballpark tonight AND we were on the first base side which always seems to be about 5 degrees cooler than the 3rd base side. At any rate, Andrew and I both dressed appropriately so we were just fine to sit and enjoy some baseball without losing any major or minor appendages.. I’m hoping that I was able to grab some decent pictures of all the new guys to add to our gallery since there are so many we don’t have yet! I sure had plenty of time since the pace of the pitching tonight resembled a Yankees game.

But what a game! I’m not sure who this team is with all the offense but it does make it a lot more fun to watch. Lineup switched around a bit tonight and Dozier was leading off – guess what, that worked out WELL. He had a good night and I like seeing the effort. The switch to 2nd base has been good for him and I see a very positive future for that.

Also looking good tonight – most of the time – was Florimon. That boy has some incredible throws across the diamond tonight and if he can work on the butterfingers thing he has going a bit, I’m excited to see him improve.

Pelfrey looked good but slow – I have a hard time with slow. But any game where pitching isn’t a major weakness, I’ll call good. Swarzak looked really good – wish he could have gotten the 4 inning save but not today.

However, once again, the offensive show was really ignited and sustained by Joe Mauer. A second consecutive 4 hit game, this one with 3 RBI. It’s great to have fans cheering him when he comes up to bat again. Tonight, he’s our BOD!

Knuckleballs Read Too

Posted on 10 November, 2012 by KL

I’ve had this idea for a while, but I’ve been so busy settling into a new job (not so new now; I started it in mid-July) that it wasn’t quite ready when the off-season began, as I had planned.

But now the idea is ready for you. The idea? Off-season baseball book reading group. This whole past year or so has been a difficult one for me for various reasons, and I’ve become a bit disconnected from baseball. As I look forward to reconnecting in 2013 (including the first time I might just be able to attend spring training!), I thought it might be fun to start the process by reading a few baseball books this winter, and I’d love for you to join me.

I’ve set up a group over at Goodreads.com, with a thread set up where you can nominate books you’d like to read this off-season. I’ll put up a poll next weekend, we’ll have a week to vote, then a week for everyone to find a copy of the first book we choose. The plan will be to start reading our first book about December 1.

Questions or concerns? Please let me know here, at the Goodreads group, or by email (see “Contact Us” page).

Hope to see you at Goodreads!

GameChat – Twins @ Reds #2, 3:10 pm

Posted on 23 June, 2012 by KL

Hey, we won yesterday! That’s pretty much all I know about the Twins lately. I’ve been terribly distracted by other things. But my parents did get the following cake for me on my birthday a couple days ago, so at least they realize my heart is still with the Twins even if my mind is elsewhere.

Minnesota	@	Cincinnati
Span, CF		Cozart, SS
Revere, RF		Heisey, CF
Mauer, 1B		Votto, 1B
Willingham, LF		Phillips, B, 2B
Plouffe, 3B		Bruce, RF
Doumit, C		Rolen, 3B
Dozier, SS		Frazier, LF
Carroll, 2B		Hanigan, C
Duensing, P		Cueto, P

Hmm. Not so great a game to watch today. *sigh*

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	1
Cincinnati	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	1	x	6	8	0

GameChat: Twins @ Orioles, 12:35 pm

Posted on 8 April, 2012 by KL

We’re still awaiting our first win of the season here in Twins Territory, and what better day than Easter?

I don’t tend to analyze the day-to-day lineup changes, but today’s lineup is a bit different than we’ve seen so far, sitting Danny Valencia and Alexi Casilla to give Sean Burroughs and Luke Hughes some playing time.

Minnesota	@	Baltimore
Span, CF		Chavez, En, LF
Carroll, SS		Hardy, SS
Mauer, 1B		Markakis, RF
Morneau, DH		Jones, Ad, CF
Willingham, LF		Wieters, C
Doumit, C		Johnson, N, DH
Burroughs, 3B		Betemit, 3B
Hughes, L, 2B		Davis, C, 1B
Revere, RF		Andino, 2B
Swarzak, P		Hammel, P

At least it wasn’t a no-hitter or shutout, as jamar said in chat…

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	0
Baltimore	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	x	3	6	0

GameChat – Yankees @ Twins, 7:10 pm

Posted on 19 August, 2011 by KL

I don’t have much in the way of witty commentary (Babs might have some a bit later), but I figured I could at least get the post up. Who knows, maybe I’ll even have a chance to watch the game!

NY Yankees	@	Minnesota
Gardner, LF		Revere, CF
Jeter, SS		Plouffe, RF
Granderson, CF		Mauer, C
Teixeira, 1B		Morneau, 1B
Cano, 2B		Kubel, DH
Swisher, RF		Valencia, 3B
Chavez, Er, 3B		Tosoni, LF
Posada, DH		Hughes, L, 2B
Martin, C		Nishioka, SS
Hughes, P, P		Slowey, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	1	1	2	2	0	0	2	8	13	0
Minnesota	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0

God help us, that sucked.

GameChat – Twins @ Royals #2, 6:10 pm, FSN & am1500

Posted on 30 April, 2011 by KL

Just got home and am throwing this up quickly, so not much to read here!

Minnesota	@	Kansas City
Span, CF		Aviles, M, 3B
Tolbert, SS		Cabrera, Me, CF
Kubel, RF		Gordon, A, LF
Morneau, 1B		Butler, 1B
Cuddyer, 2B		Francoeur, RF
Thome, DH		Betemit, DH
Valencia, 3B		Escobar, A, SS
Holm, C		Treanor, C
Tosoni, LF		Getz, 2B
Duensing, P		O’Sullivan, P

You know, I don’t think I have it in me to even bother remembering what I just watched. Maybe we should just call it a comedy of errors and leave it at that. Thank goodness April is over.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	2
Kansas City	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	8	x	11	13	2

GameChat – Tampa Bay @ Minnesota #3, 7:10 pm, FSN & am1500

Posted on 28 April, 2011 by KL

It looks like the weather at Target Field should be a heckuva lot better this evening than the snow of last night. I’m actually seeing sunshine as I write this. Better weather, better game?

It was a busy day at work so I don’t know much about what happened in the afternoon game other than the score was pretty ugly (hello, oxymoron!). The injury update was covered earlier, so I’ll just say I hope things get better soon. Having one, or maybe even two, of the key guys injured or ill is one thing, but it’s starting to feel like a bit of an epidemic. And I just want the guys to all feel better. It’s no fun for them being hurt or sick either.

I’m interested in seeing how Swarzak does. He was the starting pitcher at the Red Wings game I attended back in August 2009, and he only lasted 2.1 innings, so… I’m maybe not his biggest fan. (The Red Wings did win in the end, but after it went into extra innings I couldn’t stay for because I had other plans. I hate having to leave games before they’re over.) He can totally sway my opinion, though.

On with the lineups:

Tampa Bay	@	Minnesota
Fuld, LF		Span, CF
Damon, DH		Tolbert, SS
Upton, B, CF		Kubel, DH
Joyce, RF		Morneau, 1B
Zobrist, 2B		Cuddyer, RF
Kotchman, 1B		Tosoni, LF
Rodriguez, S, 3B		Valencia, 3B
Jaso, J, C		Butera, C
Johnson, E, SS		Hughes, L, 2B
Niemann, P		Swarzak, A, P

At least the Rays didn’t make it into double digits of runs? At least Swarzak did okay considering he had only three days’ rest and flew in just today? At least it wasn’t a shutout? Hey, I’m trying to stay positive.

Late word is that we’ll be seeing more roster changes tomorrow. Burnett up, Swarzak down? Slowey up? I’m not exactly sure what’s going on, but all will become clear in the light of day. I hope.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Tampa Bay	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	6	11	0
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	0

GameChat – Twins @ Rays #3, 3:10 pm, FOX & am1500

Posted on 16 April, 2011 by KL

I think Mother Nature got a little off track with the calendar. April Fool’s Day was a couple weeks ago; snow now isn’t a prank, it’s just a little defeating. It’s all gone at my house now, though, and maybe the weather will get back on track sometime soon.

Hopefully the Twins can get back on track soon too. Today would be a nice time . . . just sayin’.

Minnesota	@	Tampa Bay
Span, CF		Fuld, LF
Hughes, L, 2B		Damon, DH
Young, D, LF		Joyce, RF
Morneau, DH		Lopez, F, 3B
Kubel, RF		Zobrist, 2B
Cuddyer, 1B		Upton, B, CF
Valencia, 3B		Kotchman, 1B
Holm, C		Jaso, J, C
Casilla, A, SS		Brignac, R, SS
Baker, S, P		Niemann, P

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	8	0
Tampa Bay	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	8	0

Well, that didn’t work out so well. I’m pretty much the last person to go to the dark side of negativism, but I’m getting pretty close. It’s hard to watch blown saves and such close losses. But I’m going to try really hard to remain hopeful that things will get better.

KL’s WTF: Turf Toe

Posted on 21 March, 2011 by KL

Last year I had the kernel of an idea for something I could write for the blog about once a week or so, but it was only with some recent inspiration that the idea was fully formed. This is a good thing, because I have a hard time coming up with stuff off the cuff, and if we’re talking about baseball news, I’m usually too behind to post anything timely.

So, the inspiration. Earlier this month I was reading a news story about Delmon Young not being able to play for a little while due to turf toe. Somehow, the mental image that I always get when hearing about this type of injury is of a toe that has sadly turned green and is, well, sort of turfy. I knew this had to be wrong, so I called up my good friend Google and read up on the injury, because sure as heck I wasn’t going to ask on Twitter or someplace, for fear of looking stupid. I know full well that though I’ve been watching and attending baseball games for quite a few years, there’s a lot of knowledge I just haven’t picked up for one reason or another. And if I’m going to look this stuff up anyway, I might as well write about it and share it with you, our good readers. Maybe a few of you will be thankful that I’m filling you in on stuff you are also too embarrassed to ask about, but for the rest of you, perhaps you’ll at least get some amusement from my misadventures in educating myself about stuff I should probably already know.

As it turns out, turf toe has nothing to do with the color of any the digits of the foot. Imagine my relief upon reading this! And then my horror, because the information provided by MayoClinic.com here refers to the injury as “tear[ing] the capsule that surrounds the joint at the base of the toe.” Essentially it’s caused by hyperextending the big toe, which is something I’ve now added to my really long list of things I never want to do.

I’m hoping to make “KL’s WTF” a regular feature here at the Knuckleballs Blog, and while I just might be lacking in knowledge enough to keep it going by myself, if you have any questions you’re curious about (or too embarrassed to ask publicly; I’ll keep it anonymous if you’d like), just let me know via email or Twitter (see our Contact Us tab above for links) or include it as a comment to this post.

One Year Ago: Twins of Tomorrow

Posted on 30 August, 2010 by KL

One year ago today, I was able to attend a Rochester Red Wings game as part of a trip to visit a friend in upstate New York. She and I weren’t sure how the game was going to go after it rained our entire drive there (a couple hours or so as my memory serves), but the weather ended up being perfect. Since we weren’t sure if the game was going to work out in advance, we bought our tickets when we arrived and were able to get seats in about the second row very near home plate.

I don’t really remember much about the game itself (this is pretty normal for me), but if you want to check out the details, please visit this link. The Red Wings won in the 10th inning, but I actually had to leave the game before it was quite over (not normal for me) because I had somewhere else in Rochester to be, but we heard the win from the parking lot across the street. I will say that if you ever find yourself in the Red Wings’ neck of the woods during their season, it’s totally worth attending a game.

Something that has been fun for me this season is seeing a few of the guys I watched a year ago as “Twins of Tomorrow” become “Twins of Today,” even if some of them haven’t been around very long. A few photos of the more familiar faces follow.

Drew Butera, now our regular backup catcher.

Anthony Swarzak, who, okay, was technically already a “Twin of Today” last year, and hasn’t actually been up this year as far as I recall, but he could be up in September, right?

Trevor Plouffe, who has been called up for three short stints, I believe.

Danny Valencia, who’s been up since early June. (Sometimes I wish I had brought the camera with decent zoom to New York.)

Okay, so this guy isn’t a Red Wing or Twin, but Jim Ed Warden was a pretty fun sidearm guy to watch that day. He’s with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs (part of an independent league) now.