Twins-Cardinals: Live from the sweat box
Posted on June 26th, 2009 – 5:36 PMBy La Velle
City officials this week asked the Cardinals to move the start time on Saturday and Sunday to the evening out of concerns about the heat. The Cardinals and MLB said no go. So we’ll be here tomorrow when the high is expected to hit 100.
Twins strength and conditioning coach Perry Castellano has ordered every player to bring a bottle of water on the field during warmups. “Dehydration!” he said.
Nick Punto’s ribs are still sore, but he took 50 swings off the tee and said he feels better. He’s willing to come off the bench in an emergency but said he’s more focused on getting back on the field Sunday.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire still is thinking about starting Michael Cuddyer at second sometime this weekend. That would allow him to get the other outfielders on the field.
Bobby Keppel played high school ball in the area and will have about 40 friends and family at the game. Get this: Keppel is listed at 6-5, but he was the point guard on his high school hoops team. The front line went like 6-10, 6-8 and 6-7.
You won’t believe who the home plate umpire is today: It’s Todd Tichenor, who threw out Mike Redmond, Jason Varitek, Ron Gardenhire and Terry Francona on May 28 at the Dome.
Sorry the lineups are late. They weren’t out when we got to the press box, then I decided to watch a little batting practice. And the trip from the field to the pressbox is the longest in ball.
Twins (37-37)
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Brendan Harris, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, LF
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Joe Crede, 3B
8. Matt Tolbert, 2B
9. Glen Perkins, LHP
Cardinals (40-34)
1. Skip Schumaker, 2B
2. Colby Rasmus, CF
3. Albert Pujols, 1B
4. Ryan Ludwick, RF
5. Rick Ankiel, LF
6. Yadier Molina, C
7. Joe Thurston, 3B
8. Adam Wainwright, RHP
9. Tyler Greene, SS
113 Responses to "Twins-Cardinals: Live from the sweat box"
I can see Tichenor being assigned to another Twins game (as painful as it might be…) but does the crew chief have zero brain cells?? What is he thinking assigning him to home plate duty?? unbelievable…
Gomez gets the pine again !
Let Tichenor suffer in the heat along with the players.
does the crew chief have zero brain cells?? What is he thinking assigning him to home plate duty?? unbelievable
It is not the crew chief’s call. Umps have to rotate.
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between strikes and balls, and it lies between the pit of man’s talent and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination where balls are strikes and strikes are balls. It is an area which we call the Tichenor Zone.
Is Wainwright really batting 8th? Kewl.
La Velle,
no worries about the lineups being late. You post them ahead of MLB.com and before anyone else. You scooped them all. Now go get some water 
bop,
batting the pitcher in the 8-spot is La Russa’s SOP
City officials this week asked the Cardinals to move the start time on Saturday and Sunday to the evening out of concerns about the heat. The Cardinals and MLB said no go
WTF?
Round numbers: Twins are at .500 - Tigers are 10 over .500 - time to make a move!
len 3 watch the heat, drink lots of water, maybe mix in a salad between racks of ribs this weekend. we don’t need you having a heart attack!
No ribs until Kansas City….
“the home plate umpire is today: It’s Todd Tichenor, who threw out Mike Redmond, Jason Varitek, Ron Gardenhire and Terry Francona on May 28 at the Dome.”
Not a problem.
Tichenor iced down his arm, got a couple days rest, returned from a rehab assignment and is poised to start tossing guys this weekend.
He is on a strict pitch count, however.
Four tosses and then he must be relieved.
Check out Schumaker at 2B. That’s Cuddyer like range.
Awww. I was looking forward to seeing Cuddyer at 2B!
Hey, Thrylos, I know that you are quite outspoken against starting Cuddy over Young in the OF. What are your thoughts on him at second?
The Cardinals and Twins are both batting their worst hitter in the 8-hole.
“The Cardinals and Twins are both batting their worst hitter in the 8-hole.”
I thought Brian Buscher wasn’t playing tonight.
You won’t believe who the home plate umpire is today: It’s Todd Tichenor, who threw out Mike Redmond, Jason Varitek, Ron Gardenhire and Terry Francona on May 28 at the Dome.
So you’re telling me that I could probably flip a coin and have pretty good odds of guessing which pitches will be balls and strikes?
The Cardinals and MLB said no go
Always gotta love when money comes over the health and well-being of both players and fans.
Wow… cannot believe that they won’t move the time of the game for the heat. Hope none of our guys goes down tonight! And we all know this game will be interesting with who is behind the plate. Let’s hope the boys prayed today.
Aaron’s stuff was good at 5:49.
:)>
Now if only Little Nicky could continue to use the tee in the future…
“Always gotta love when money comes over the health and well-being of both players and fans.”
When does it NOT?
interesting, it doesn’t say how many Punto actually hit off the tee.
T-ball!
Len3,
You could always cool off in that big moving pond over by the arc. It’s only a Pujols bomb away from the park.
It’s sad that what you said at 6:43 is true sane.
ggg,
You must not have read about the gigantic billion dollar T-ball rip-off.
I think Madoff was behind it.
best time in the world the kids first t-ball game.
dandelions and butterflies!
Is the Saturday game on Fox? That would explain why they wouldn’t move that one. I’m sure it was a television issue whatever it was.
“best time in the world the kids first t-ball game.”
Nothing beats watching nine kids chasing the same batted ball at the same time.
It’s fantastic!
So LEN3 is dissin’ St. Louis ribs! I’m guessing he’s heading up to (politically uncorrect) Hill for some pasta and fried ravioli. And some Budweiser.
Nice to see that Perkins picked the dark blue jerseys in the 90 plus weather
ggg,
True story. Grandson’s first T ball game. Kid on 3B. Ball is hit. 3B coach hollars “Go home! Go home!” Kid on 3B takes off towards left center. Coach had to run him down. Seems he lived just off the park.
“Nice to see that Perkins picked the dark blue jerseys in the 90 plus weather”
Left-handed pitchers are not noted for their good judgement.
When I coached my son’s team in T ball we had more kids picking dandelions than ground balls. One time our game was played on a field adjacent to where the local high school marching band practiced inside a fenced in enclosed field. I spent an hour and a half picking my outfielders off of the fence. They had their backs turned to the game and were watching the band.
I love T-ball.
Hey, Thrylos, I know that you are quite outspoken against starting Cuddy over Young in the OF. What are your thoughts on him at second?
May I refer you to Joe’s blog? They are there and clear.
Watchin T ball practice. Coach hitting popups to about 10-12 kids. Every ball hit they all run around bumping into each other. No one ever comes close to catching the ball. Priceless.
I don’t think that the boys’ll have a hard time getting loose tonight. Of course this is just the “warm up” for the upcoming Texas series in Arlington.
Man, this is scary. How are the Twin’s pitchers going to deal with Albert “shutz-your” Poo-holz? I wonder if Mauer or Morneau bring near equivalent fear in oppositions?
Nothing beats watching nine kids chasing the same batted ball at the same time.
Followed by nine kid arriving at the ball–after it stops rolling–at approximately the same instant…followed at some point by one small hand gripping a baseball emerging triumphantly from the dogpile.
“How are the Twin’s pitchers going to deal with Albert “shutz-your” Poo-holz?”
1) Keep the pitches low and behind him;
or
2) See if he can hit bouncers.
I look forward to Pujols vs. Liriano on Sunday with much trepidation.
Sane, nice, I like your plan. But he probably can hit bouncers…
Why not COMBINE 1 and 2, sane, and see if Pujols can hit bouncers behind him?
Nice audio on FSN tonight…..stereo.
RBirds have the scouting report on Kubes — all curves.
“Let’s Go KU - BUL”
bomp bomp, bomp-bomp-bomp
“Let’s Go KU - BUL”
bomp bomp, bomp-bomp-bomp
“see if Pujols can hit bouncers behind him?”
That’s what Bert would call “challenging the hitter”.
“see if Pujols can hit bouncers behind him?”
I guess I’m struggling to follow this conversation, which seems to be up DrDon’s alley, so to speak. Are we talking about bouncing someone’s balls up against Albert’s Pujol? Ewww.
Are we talking about bouncing someone’s balls up against Albert’s Pujols
that sounds even worse if you pronounce Albert’s last name…
how many Molinas are there that catch? do they have any younger brothers?
Wait a minute…Albert’s Pujols? He has more than one?
Nice snatch by Poohole.
it would be interesting to know how many runners the lads have had nailed at the plate this year. seems like quite a few.
Wait a minute…Albert’s Pujols? He has more than one?
what is that saying again? (about a “new one”?)
Nuttin’ wrong with that. Two outs, you send the runner. He gets nailed, he gets nailed.
agree, chief. looked like joe could have avoided it if he slides more on the inside.
Benji, Jose and Yadier I think are all of the Molinas
Perkins sharp. Ump calling the high strike.
Dark jerseys aren’t any hotter than lighter colors at night.
can’t the man on deck direct the baserunner at home? if so who didn’t tell mauer to do the randy bush leftside?
Maybe Ulger hasnt seen this clip of Ankiel, INSANE ARM
http://stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200805072655396
It’s called a ‘curveball,’ Glen.
Yellow hammer. Uncle Charlie.
Perkins induced a fly out of Albert’s Pujol.
Juvenile, I know.
Let’s hope there’s no big flys, bop.
Brendan, Note to self “he has a curveball and likes to throw it to you!”
Justin hitting just .250 in June with 2 big flys.
kirby91,
and that is a mean freaking curveball, I’d venture to say
Maybe our inning to get a guy past third.
kubes + cuddy = rbi
T98,
Very true sir. I think if I were him I’d guess it was coming and least look silly swinging. Can’t be any worse than watching fly by for strike three again.
PS-Great job Twins fans on the turn out in Milwaukee. Was at the games and it was impressive and fun to see. I’m sure it was much like it was at Wrigley (wish I could have been there).
Keep it up in St Louie!
If Perk had taken the pitch for a ball, Cuddy would have stolen 3rd anyway.
can’t believe batting the pitcher, especially given the pitch count. what do they know that we don’t?
Perk has that lefty-natural cutter thing working tonight. Lefties kill the red birds
We need to vote Harris Twins MVP, so the Rays will regret the trade.
puddytats with a 2 run lead and Verlander on the mound. he’s a great pitcher but geez he throws a lot of balls. 106 pitch count through 5 innings. what’s the future hold for that workload?
Damn, Albert threw out Mauer from his Pujols.
HA, sy!!
Just watched the Red Wings Play and Tolleson is the real deal. He started the game at short and made a great play up the middle. After an injury to Winfree he was moved to left and made a play off the wall that would #1 on ESPN with out a doubt. Not to say he was 3-4 and was robbed of his fourt hit by a diving play on the track. Why is he not in the Big Leagues. Some one please tell me. He does not belong in AAA when we have players like Punto and Tolbert in the Big Leagues.
Someone tell Dick the Twins are leading.
Dick’s delirious
Hey Chief, you going to watch the Twins on Armed Forces Appreciation Day?
this is starting to look ugly
The Cardinals announcers are certainly confused why Perk was pulled…
So am I…
must be why Greene is hitting 9th
Why did he take Perkins out? I swear, sometimes Gardy wants to lose. Bonehead!
Are they bringing Nathan in? This inning is the SAVE.
Maybe Perkins got tired. It’s fairly hot there
This better work out Gardy…
Perkins told Anderson he was gassed.
Nice!
Gardy sure is stupid…
now that was a master move. well done.
I guess that’s why I’m on the keyboard and Gardy is in the dugout! wtg Mijares!
Timely.
Hey Chief, you going to watch the Twins on Armed Forces Appreciation Day?
Every day is Armed Forces Appreciation Day, to me.
So, yeah. I watch the Twins pretty much every day, too.
I’d really, really prefer Nathan retire Rasmus to start the bottom of the 9th.
Let Albert swing from his Pujols with nobody on base.
Gardy is still stupid
Razz, tell us how you feel, don’t hold back
Good call Chief. sigh.
Uh-oh! Got to walk Albert don’t you?
Huge K!
Like I said, you got to let Joe go get’em! Oh brother.
I would never put the tying run on base with nobody out.
Had it all the way.
I heart Joe Nathan.
what a job by Jomentum!
Nice win Twins! Do Joe a favor and give him Saturday off because you win by blowout
Chief what did you have yourself at over/under on number of times using that line tonight on Pujols?
Nice win! Nice outing by Perkins and the pen! Win Twins!
Ask him about the jersey ball, Cooms!
The Poohole jokes remind me of a stupid rhyme we used to say when we kids:
“When you’re sliding into third and you lay a juicy turd … diarrhea.”
Like I said, it was stupid.
Our Twins beat a very good pitcher tonight in Wainwright….Great ballgame with a great outcome. GO TWINS!!!!!
At 100 degrees do you think the coaching staff will still wear buttoned up jackets?
Selfishly, I’m glad the game is still at noon Saturday. Wife and I drove down on a whim and just got back to the hotel after the game. Tickets for Saturday are first row, second deck, right behind home plate… no doubt in the sun. Come on down and say hellow LaVelle! LOL
Not the most exciting game tonight, but a nice dramatic finish with Twitchy striking out Pujols in the 9th. First time I’ve been to the new Busch Stadium. Terrific place!
