Off to the Big A...

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

to watch my beloved, but hapless, Twins battle the immensely underachieving Angels. And yes, you do have to leave two hours before first pitch to drive the 20 miles to Anaheim. That's southern California for you...god, do I miss Minnesota sometimes! But it is beautiful here tonight...like every night (yawn).

I'm a diehard Twins and Wolves fan, so I try to catch them every time they are here in LA. I'm busy tomorrow night, but I plan to go watch Pelfrey against Weaver on Wednesday afternoon. True confessions time here. A year ago May I went to the Big A to watch the Twins against Weaver, but I was so disgusted with their ineptitude that I bailed in the 5th inning. Yes, I missed the no hitter...got to watch the 9th inning back home!

Tonight it's Deduno against Blanton, and I'm shocked that Vegas has the Angels favored. Deduno's fast ball moves as much as any in the majors, and he's learned to keep his pitch count down. And Blanton is just terrible. 8-3 Twins tonight. If I'm right, I may file a game report later. If I'm wrong, I'll pretend that this thread never happened!

[JDvikes [enjin:6536888]]

Haha, awesome. Have fun, and hopefully we pull it out!

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

We got the W. Almost lost it though. We've won 5 out of our last 6 I believe. Let's keep this up Twins!

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

And we did, jd, but not without some drama. Clete Thomas is the unlikely hero with a double and a homer, 2 rbi, and a game-saving eighth inning catch with his back to the wall. Whew...this game had a little of everything! Here are some observations:

1) Deduno struggled with his control tonight, but he is a frustrating guy to hit off of when his fastball is darting all over the place. I've never seen so many balls hit off the batters shoes.
2) Really fun to watch two young guys like Trout and Hicks patrolling center field. Too bad only one of them can hit. Is it just me, or does Hicks get fooled and check his swing more than any other batter? And what's with the no slide at home plate when he was thrown out on Dozier's single? I wouldn't be surprised if Gardy benches him for a game.
3) California nice is even more extreme than Minnesota nice. Joe Blanton stunk up the joint tonight and deserved to be booed when he didn't survive the 4th inning, but the Angel fans gave him the polite applause.
4) Dozier makes Mauer and Morneau run 5 times as he keeps fouling off 3-2 pitches. Morneau was clearly winded, but was enjoying a good laugh with Ulger every time he jogged back to first after another foul ball.
5) I don't know where this new shortstop Bernier came from, but man is he smooth with the glove.
6) I'm still chuckling at Gardy and Rick Anderson pushing each other way with blushing homophobia when they saw themselves encircled in the Kiss Cam pink heart on the scoreboard. Methinks they doth protest too much.
7) Even though it didn't go well, I was pleased that Gardy got creative and brought Perkins into the game in the 8th for the 4-out save. It was the right move.
8) The Anaheim Rally Monkey is the lamest thing in baseball...it still pisses me off because it reminds me of the Twins' collapse in the 2002 playoffs.
9) What a dramatic bottom of the 9th! Plouffie bearhands a bunt to beat the leadoff man by a step. Fortunate, because the next two guys single to put two on for Albert Pujols. He and Perkins lock up in an epic duel, which ends with a called third strike on a fast ball that might have been a touch off the corner. I was surprised that Albert didn't get the hometown call..so was Albert. Perkins then blows away Howie Kendrick to get the save.

Games like this remind me why baseball is the greatest game ever invented by man. I'll be back to cheer the boys on Wednesday afternoon!

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Really good write-up lst. I hope our boys keep playing good ball. I really want us to get back to .500 and show signs of life. Even though we probably won't compete for the division title, if this team is .500 at the end of the year, I'm very very pleased!

Sounds like a great game to have been at though! Haha

[JDvikes [enjin:6536888]]

That does sound like what I have been missing. I used to get half season tickets during the sweet Guardado days (one of my all time faves)