As of this writing, Joe C. should be across Alligator Alley and closing in on Fort Lauderdale, where the Twins will face the Orioles today.

Joe used to cover the O’s, so he takes the trip so his old buddies can kiss the ring. Both of us, however, despise the stadium the Orioles play in.

First of all, the pressbox wobbles when it’s really windy which, by coincidence, seems to happen every time the Twins are in town.

Secondly, there’s no wireless set up in the press box. So we have to scramble to a trailer next to the stadium to file our stories. That also means no game updates here today. Sorry.

Thirdly, the pressbox is situated where foul balls reach us very quickly. About 5-10 times a game, reporters are screaming, “Look out!!” when a foul ball comes back. You can’t get caught with your head down.

Fourthly, the Orioles have stunk so much in recent years that the atmosphere is crummy. The only interesting thing is watching small planes land on an airfield about a mile behind the left field wall and wonder where are they coming from and what are they carrying. And that’s when you get caught not paying attention to the foul ball headed for your laptop.

As a favor to Joe, I’m posting the Twins’ lineup here. Jesse Crain is pitching for Class AAA Rochester today at 11 a.m. Pat from Golden Valley is on the scene for that one.

Twins lineup, Span (8), Punto (4), Young (7), Jones (3), Monroe (DH), Kubel (9), Redmond (2), Watkins (5), Everett (6). Pitching:Blackburn, followed by Bass, Rincon, Keisler, Korecky, DePaula and Cali.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 10:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.