No more Minnesota Nice. Hopefully.

Another disappointing weekend for our beloved 9 in Arizona. After an encouraging 3-game win streak on the West Coast got Twins fans (or maybe just me) thinking that we had reached some proverbial corner... instead, we found out we are circling an octagon - there are many corners to turn. The weekend was characteristic of the 2011 season thus far - bullpen issues, poor fielding, inability to come through in clutch places at the plate, and of course the lack of the use of the strike zone. Oh ya, and injuries (see Glen Perkins heading to the ** - I have decided that "DL" is now a swear word, so I don't say it anymore, just **).

This week will prove to be an important week for the Twins. I know, like the previous 7 weeks didn't mean anything?? Well, Jim Thome and Jason Repko return to the team on Monday. One of the crutches that we have been using is the fact that we have these "potholes" in our lineup, and defensively we have looked more like my 6th grade pee-wee baseball team (we had a 4-11 record, struggled against right-handed pitching... and left-handed pitching). My point is, if this team has any aspirations of turning another 6 corners of this octagon soon, well, we're not looking for positive signs anymore. We just really need wins. Really bad.

6 home games this week. Is it 6-0 or bust? No. 5-1 is good, 4-2 acceptable. But if this week goes just as the entire 2011 season has gone... this Memorial Day we may be remembering the 2011 Minnesota Twins. (That of course is a figure of speech. Memorial Day is a very special day. A day each one of us needs to take time to remember those who have fallen for our freedom, and for those who continue to serve our country. God bless America!)

Go Twins!!