My baseball editor, Dennis Brackin, is chastising me for mentioning Tuesday that I went to the gym.

 

Patrick Reusse warned me that if I mention the word, `blog,’ to him this spring he’s going to punch me, “in your good eye.”

 

Judd Zulgad is kicking Twins fans off his Access Vikings blog (Vikings Whine Vine). So territorial….

 

I’m feeling absolutely no love from my co-workers up north right now. No problem. I’ll win without them…. 

 

One player in batting cage early this morning was third baseman Glenn Williams. Williams hit .425 in 13 games for the Twins in 2005 before dislocating his right shoulder, ending his season. That was a bad night, because Shannon Stewart told me that Williams cried in the trainer’s room after the game.

Williams had caught a wave. Who knows where he was headed? That could have been his time to establish himself as someone worthy of being on a 25-man roster before the injury. Instead, he spent all last season in the minors, batting .257 at Class AAA Rochester.

 

Williams, 29, is back at camp with a extremely remote chance at making the roster…. 

Made the rounds through the clubhouse this morning. Garrett Jones (who’s from the Chicago suburbs) and I complained to each other about the Jamar Smith I’m-too-distraught-to-drive-my teammate-to-the-hospital-because-I think-he’s-dead story. Found out Michael Cuddyer is self-described, “coffee snob,” because he tried some local blend while in Jamaica for his wedding and now can’t get enough of it. 

Talked to J.D. Durbin, who’s out of options. Check out the paper tomorrow to see what he has to say about his situation. 

 Sidney Ponson is throwing in the bullpen today. I’m going to try to watch Sir Sid work his magic, but I have a story to write first.

I’ll try to check back in this afternoon after the Gardenhire presser…. Oh, I just want to state for the record that I’m not mad at Reusse. I though it was a funny line…..

 

The Twins are back on the field this morning. There’s a familiar left-handed pitcher throwing in the bullpen as we speak. I’m in the pressbox, but can hear Gardy hollering encouragement from a distant field….

 Torii Hunter has reported to camp and is already busting up reporters and teammates. Denard Span has arrived too.

Early observations on some of the newcomers. Mike Venafro and Kevin Slowey will be good quotes if they make the team. Jeff Cirillo (who I met during TwinsFest) will contribute to any gab-a-thon as well.
Slowey is from the Pittsburgh area and attended PiratesFest when Andy Van Slyke, Barry Bonds and others played there. Slowey said TwinsFest was much more intense…

That’s all I’ve got for now. I decided to hit the gym this morning so I didn’t log the big minutes in the clubhouse I normally do. BUT I DID RECORD MY FIRST PODCAST OF THE YEAR!!!!!!! It will be up and running in a little bit, so check it out.

 

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Just testing out the technology here. At this stage, this is a pain in my rear end to put up here. I need reps. Here’s Hammond Stadium being spruced up for spring games.

Like I said before, I’m not going to run from drill to drill with my cameraphone, taking pictures. But there will be a few.

Back to more important stuff…..

Sidney Ponson said he weighed 252 pounds the last time he got on a scale, and he’s confident that he’s lost some pounds since then as he prepares for Tuesday’s weigh-in. I doubt we’ll be able to get a number, but we’ll see. Honestly, I’m more interested in seeing what he’s got.

Ponson and pitching coach Rick Anderson were quite the couple coming out of the clubhouse this morning, with Andy doing most of the talking. Reminded me a little of 2002, when Andy verbally put an arm around LaTroy Hawkins, the first steps towards Hawkins’ makeover. 

Speaking of weights. Michael Cuddyer said he weighs around 220 and actually gained weight during last season to finish at 230. When it was pointed out that Joe Mauer has a tough time keeping weight on during the season, Cuddyer barked: “He needs to lift more weights!” before laughing.

Rondell White said he’s at 223 pounds and would like to drop eight more during spring training.

Terry Steinbach, down to work with the catchers for a few days, said he will run the dummy drill again this year. In that drill, the catcher anchors himself at home plate and takes a throw from the outfield while Steinie slings a tackling dummy at them. It’s supposed to somewhat simulate home plate collisions. Steine could always call Torii Hunter over if he needs realism….

Talked with Kevin Slowey, Twins pitching prospect. What a chatty, witty fellow (must be the Winthrop thing). While talking about his pitching style (not a lot of power, plenty of accuracy), he said: “You appreciate watching guys who can really locate, the Madduxes the Brad Radkes. At the same time you envy guys like Jesse (Crain) who can rare back and throw it by somebody. It’s something you can’t do but are able to watch.”
Crain overheard the comment and said: “Nice! He got me in there. That won’t be forgotten.”

See you Tuesday….

  

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At 8:20 a.m., Twin Cities time, pitchers and catchers took the field for their first official workout of the spring. Shiny new spikes click-clacked on the concrete as they moved from the clubhouse to Field 5 for warmups. The temperature:48 degrees. About 60 fans still showed up.

Chatted with a few players before the workout. Talked to Glenn Williams about baseball in his native Australia. Checked in with J.D. `The Real Deal,’ Durbin, who would have been called up last season if not for a nerve problem in his right arm. He said he’s fine but will be monitored closely the first few days of camp.

 Pat Neshek made my day when I said hello to him, “Love your blog,” he said. That led to a discussion to what this blog should be about.

I’m going to keep this as entertaining as possible. I’m going to stay away from heavy statistical analysis. I’m going to try to be light-hearted and funny without being offensive. Once the regular season begins, I’ll share my opinions on roster moves and Gardy’s decisions or Cuddyer’s latest magic tricks.

I may throw breaking news up here, too, like the crack  Access Vikings staff does. My main goal is to give you even more of a taste of what’s going on in the clubhouse and front office.

Someone has asked about pictures. There will be very few because I’m not carrying a camera around! If I can get an occasional picture with my camera phone, I may include it.

Neshek agreed that blogs like mine should remain entertaining. In fact, he intends to mention on his website soon. Thanks Pat…

 

I’ll check back later after the workout. My fingers are getting too cold to type…..

A bunch of pitchers just finished long toss on Field 5 here. The first media blitz of spring was directed at Sidney Ponson. He said that the heaviest he’s ever been was 2003 when he won 17 games. He weighed 269 then. One of my fellow hacks agreed with me that Sir Sid looks around 245 today. And, seriously, if Sir Sid goes David Wells on the league this year will anyone care how much he weighs?

 Joe Nathan is fretting about being assigned Brad Radke’s old clubhouse stall. He wants it known that he did not demand the primo location - right next the entrance to the kitchen and coaches quarters. Mike Redmond couldn’t resist: “I thought we were going to glass that thing off,” he joked.

Justin Morneau arrived this morning, wearing yet another Vancouver Canucks t-shirt (does it ever end?). He headed for the batting cage with Lew Ford, Michael Cuddyer and others. Hitting coach Joe Vavra personally opened several boxes of baseballs just to throw B.P. to them.

Chatted with Dutch lefthander Alexander Smit, who’s in his first major league camp. He spent the morning sitting in front of his stall, watching everything and everyone with that wide-eyed look on his face. I made a point to visit with him because I like soccer and he roots for PSV Eindhoven, where American DaMarcus Beasley played last year.

It’s still not warm here folks. The locals were in coats, scarves and furry boots last night. My nose is running, and we can’t open the press box shutters because of a biting wind. But the first workout is tomorrow, and I can’t wait.

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