2011: High Expectations

We are finally only one day away from my boy Denard stepping into the box to get this season started.  Naturally, it's becoming harder and harder to concentrate on anything but Opening Day as it gets closer.  So, let's take a look at each position and let "hope spring eternal" as I lay down my expectations this season for each position/player.

Here Comes the AL East

I don't know who had it out for the Twins this year, but their schedule to start the season is brutal. 15 of the first 20 games are on the ROAD against the AL EAST. Ouch! The last couple of years have not been good for the Twins in games versus the AL East. You have to go back to 2006 for the last time the Twins had a winning record against those five teams. Here's a rundown on how the Twins have fared against that division in recent history.

Get to Know Em!!

Since this December 17, 2010 I began studying my Japanese in preparation of welcoming our newest 2nd baseman to Twins Territory! And so when I found this video, my Japanese was put to the test. In order to successfully translate his strong Japanese accent, I decided to use the given English translation that Youtube so generously provided. Thank you Youtube.

Infield Depth: Where is it?

We are less than a week away from Opening Day 2011, and as a baseball fan, these are the best days of the year.  I love it because every fan thinks their team has a shot, and everyone predicts how the season is going to turn out.  The great thing about baseball is that nothing ever happens as predicted.  Who would have thought that the Giants would be World Series champions a year ago today (other than Giants fans, of course).  Who would have thought that the Red Sox would have all those injuries and they would be completely out of the playoff picture?  As Opening Day approaches this season, I am excited as ever to see what kind of ride the Twins are going to take me on this year.  However, for the first time in years I have some major concerns the closer we get.  So I ask: What happens if Casilla or Nishioka struggle or get hurt?

Love the Small Ball

After the win last night against the Orioles, Gardy was quoted as saying "I told him (Nishioka), rather than sacrifice in those situations, I'd like to see him bunt for a base hit."  As I was listening to the game last night on my way to play pick-up basketball (I'm trying to revive my NBA dreams, naturally), I remember thinking to myself: "We are going to score in the first inning of every game that Denard Span gets on base to lead off the game!"

Introducing the All-Time Minnesota Twins

Opening Day for the Twins is just 9 days away. However, with all the snow being dumped across the northern plains this week, spring just doesn’t seem that close. That doesn’t mean that Target Field isn’t ready for the defense of the AL Central to begin. Every summer, I find great enjoyment over watching the Twins toy with the rest of the division until the All-Star break only to go on a run the leaves everyone else in the dust. Most importantly, I love it when the Twins beat the White Sox! Thank you, Jim Thome, for coming over to the good side!

Remembering the Baseball Card Stats

There was a time in my life when I would tag along with my mom on the weekly grocery store run.  The only reason I can think of that I didn’t throw a complete tantrum (other than the fact that I respected my parents, of course) is that I knew there was a good to great chance I would be leaving the store with a $0.50 pack of Topps baseball cards in my hands.  Obviously, the first thing I had to do was throw the rock-hard piece of old bubble gum out in the trash as we left.  Looking back, that was the definition of “living the dream.”  My brothers and I spent hours and hours collecting, examining, and playing with every baseball card we collected – which I can now say was way too many cards than I should have ever made my mom buy for me.  Sorry mom.

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2003 Prospects: Wha', wha', wha' happened?

A friend of mine recently brought over the February 2003 issue of Beckett, and who was on the cover?  None other than our starting catcher Joe Mauer.  Inside I found a list of 500 of the top prospects at that time and their profiles.  13 of these profiles belonged to our beloved Twins, so I decided to do a little investigation into what exactly happened to these 13 particular prospects.

Delmon Young - only just begun?

The countdown to Opening Night for the Twins is now 10 days and the expectations for the 2011 season are as high as ever. Visions of healthy M & M boys, flashes of 2006 again in Fransisco Liriano (we Twins Rubes like to call him "Franchise Liriano") along with a veteran core returning to the rotation, and revamped lineup featuring both speed and power have Twins Territory looking forward to another AL Central title banner to be hung in Target Field. But have we forgotten about arguably the biggest breakthrough from 2010?

Slowey to the Pen

Word this morning from Twins camp is that Kevin Slowey will start out the season in the bullpen, which means the starting rotation will consist of Pavano, Liriano, Blackburn, Duensing, and Baker.  This is the logical choice for Rick Anderson and the pitching staff.  I am a firm believer that trading Slowey would not be the wisest decision, mainly because at some point during a 162 game season we will need a 6th starter.  It's a very good possibility that our starting rotation may even need to go beyond 6, at which point I am as excited as anyone to see Kyle Gibson make his debut at Target Field.

Twins Rubes

Welcome to Twins Rubes!  My brothers and I decided that in order to let our passion for the home team out of our systems on a regular basis, it would be fun to start writing about our feelings, emotions, and love of the Minnesota Twins.  One unique aspect of our viewpoint will be the none of us have cable, and therefore rely on John Gordon and Danny Gladden to paint the picture of each game in our minds.  We are by no means experts, but rather die-hard Twins fans that spend endless summer nights biting our finger nails over the ups and downs that come with Twins Baseball!

We surely appreciate every one who joins us and interacts with us through this blog; and we will do our best to give you that positive, rube-like, viewpoint of the team we all love!