Twins-Royals: Twins nation is going strong
Posted on June 30th, 2009 – 5:39 PMBy La Velle
Twins fans have been visible and audible throughout this road trip. And there’s been no let up here in Kansas City. Several thousand of then Twins fans are here for the series and are enjoying everything the city has to offer.
I ran into four determined Twins fans after Monday’s game at a watering hole in the Country Club Plaza - or they ran into me. They all had marks on their forearms. “Is that a brand or a tatoo?” I asked.
The answer: It was a tally.
These guys have been on the entire road trip and are tracking how many drinks they are consuming- using the traditional four lines and a slash for every five drinks. Their arms looked like coding from The Matrix. Yes, they wash it off at the end of the day but mark themselves up the next morning and continue their imbibing.
I promised I would post their leaderboard, so here are their totals through Monday night (I’m trying to read this man’s handwriting, so bear with me):
Nick Mathewson: 174
Brendan McGabbon: 165
Thrill Shakken: 164
Sam Lehman: 162
Wow. It must be nice be young.
If you know any of these men, make sure they get plenty of rest when they return to the Twin Cities.
Joe Crede is back in the lineup and said he feels great. He knows he’s got listen to what his back is telling him, and yesterday it told him to rest.
Class AAA Rochester coach Riccardo Ingram has left the team to take care of a medical issue and is out indefinitely. Rico is a swell guy and I hope he recovers well. Rich Miller is coming up from Class A Beloit to replace Ingram. The Twins have hired former player Chris Heintz to replace Miller at Beloit.
Heard from a scout that Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello hit 90 mph on the gun just once last night. He threw from 87-89 and his sinker was flat, which is why he gave up five runs on nine hits and two walks over 4.1 innings against Oakland. This is noteworthy because Porcello is scheduled to start against the Twins on Sunday at the Dome.
The matchups: Friday: Kevin Slowey against LHP Luke French. Saturday: Francisco Liriano vs Edwin Jackson. Sunday: Nick Blackburn vs Porcello.
Oh, the lineups!
Twins (39-39)
1. Denard Span, LF
2. Bredan Harris, SS
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Jason Kubel, DH
6. Michael Cuddyer, RF
7. Joe Crede, 3B
8. Carlos Gomez, CF
9. Nick Punto, 2B
Pitching: Scott Baker
Royals (33-42)
1. David DeJesus, LF
2. Willie Bloomquist, RF
3. Billy Butler, 1B
4. Mike Jacobs, DH
5. Mark Teahen, 3B
6. Alberto Callaspo, 2B
7. Miguel Olivo, C
8. Mitch Maier, CF
9. Tony Pena, Jr. SS
Pitching: Brian Bannister
135 Responses to "Twins-Royals: Twins nation is going strong"
i may have missed it, but what happened with Ayala on the wire and trade front?
on the drinks, thats like 20 a day, no?
LEN III…. We are tallying here at home during this road trip, too. And here is the home front:
DrDon, 1111, oops make that 1112 now.
Romer, 5 (oops maybe 6)
Thrylos, 1110
Chief, 44
Pete, 77
Shawn from Binghamton, 567
sane, 1022
Ben, 6
Who did I miss???? report in please.
You missed….
cmathewson
craig
nora
brookshirebabewatcher
iconoclast
the new and improved craig
and I also missed La Velle. 
Looks like the word crai(g) gets you into moderation land.
Good plan.
The Kiss of Death, LaVelle. Porcello will be be unhittable Sunday and it will be all your fault! (Easier to blame you than a bunch of guys flailing away at balls in the dirt, right?)
Ah, Country Club Plaza in KC. If you can’t eat and drink well there, you just aren’t interested in trying. Wish I was down there, too.
Glad to hear Crede’s back in the line up.
Nick, that’s my nephew! I’m so proud.
LEN, I can’t keep track of everyone, sometimes the honor system has to rule, and they need to check in.
DrDon, I learned a long time ago that nothing good ever comes from trying to keep track of how much I drink.
The Twins have hired former player Chris Heintz to replace Miller at Beloit.
we are talking about a hitting coach… I know it is probably just a minute’s notice, but a career .536 OPS hitter is a bit suspect as a hitting coach? (what’s next, LNP as the Twins’ hitting coach in 2015?)
Nick, that’s my nephew! I’m so proud.
Ah, but does he have legs? Can he hold the lead through the rest of the trip?
I forgot you, JC. We are accepting close approximations.
I might add… It’s an even WORSE idea for me to tell others how much I drink.
Do we have a lineup?
JC….then under estimate. The lowest you can go is a big fat ZERO.
It’s an even WORSE idea for me to tell others how much I drink.
But not as bad as when someone tells me how much TO drink.
Wow, Even if that is cheap beer that is a pretty penny. Holy cow.
i want to know how many racks of ribs len3 went thru?
Iconoclast: 888
I was lagging behind on the drink tally, but then I went wine tasting on Sunday (plentiful free wine is one of the advantages of being a Twins fan exiled to NorCal).
I dunno. Chris Heintz made “the Show”.
If I were a member of the low Class A Beloit Snappers, I might consider the possibility that he might have some knowledge worth listening to. The minor leagues are full of coaches/instructors with lesser credentials.
1112, ggg.
LaVelle,
Can you update us on the unsigned Twins draft picks such as Gibson, Bashore, Tootle, Dean, Richardson, Liddle, etc. I have not seen any news of late on the signing process vis-a-vis some top picks of the Twins.
Thanks in advance for any information you can pass along.
Ahem, Lineups? I have a blog thread to put up.
I drank 2 beers at Miller Park last tuesday. Looks like I’m in last place.
the unsigned Twins draft picks
here is a tally of the signed picks (round in parenthesis) so far:
Billy Bullock (2nd)
Derek McCallum (4th)
Tobias Streich (5th)
Chris Hermann (6th)
Brad Stillings (7th)
James Dozier (8th)
Nick Lockwood (9th)
Tony Davis (12th)
Dakota Watts (16th)
Nick Tindall (17th)
Kane Holbrooks (21st)
Buddy Munroe(22nd)
Paul-Michael Klingsberg (49th)
Lineup:
Span LF, Harris SS, Mauer C, Morneau 1B, Kubel DH, Cuddyer RF, Crede 3B, Gomez CF, Punto 2B,
Baker P
I posted everything except the lineups. Oops.
There are no signing updates. Gibson probably won’t pitch this season anyway, so there’s no rush. But I did hear that Gibson wants more than slot money because of where he was projected.
So much for that resolved lineup theory. Jerk Young out and put Gomez in. While this is the lineup I prefer it is no good for either player.
This is our best lineup imo.
JC…..”"”"”JimCrikket says:
June 30th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
I dunno. Chris Heintz made “the Show”.
If I were a member of the low Class A Beloit Snappers,”"”"”
Saw one of my neighborhood college gals walk by today with a turtle skirt on…………Hem was up by her Snapper.
DrDon, put me down for 1. If you get in the habit of ALWAYS answering “1″ when you’re asked how many drinks you’ve had, you don’t have to worry about who’s asking…. wife, highway patrolman, etc.
Chief, I suppose that depends on how much they tell me to drink. “Dammit JC, don’t come home until you’ve had at least 12!” wouldn’t be so bad, I guess.
AaronK, I’m sure those guys manage to get the ladies they meet to buy most of their drinks. They ARE Twins fans, after all.
Icon, wine tasting? just… oh my.
This is our best lineup imo.
imo, I’d rather see Young instead of Cuddyer at RF (batting 7th), Harris down behind Crede in the 6 slot and Mauer at 2
I tip my hat to AaronK.
He gets his preferred lineup, and still finds a way to complain.
That’s talent.
Plus, isn’t Steven Liddle going to play and then the Twins will make a decision after that?
This is our best lineup imo.
imo, I’d rather see Young instead of Cuddyer at RF (batting 7th), Harris down behind Crede in the 6 spot and Mauer at 2
As a matter of fact, I’m going to award AaronK PoD right now.
Competition’s over folks.
Thrill Shakken? Does he love BB King, even though he still has the thrill?
AaronK, I’d prefer Harris 7th unless he is a better bunter than last night (and that was NOT a drag bunt).
for the future of both young and gomez imo they need to have more playing time. easy way is to give both span and cuddy a day off a week, with that they should be fresher in sept if we need to make a push.
no doubt there will still be bitching tonight about dy, even with all the hate every night i think we need him if we are to be a serious playoff team. plus the better he plays the more he’s worth when they trade him.
Please bat Mauer 2nd.
Crikket, good point about the ladies buying the drinks.
Chief,
Thanks for the award, I am honored. My overall point is I do not believe 4 starting caliber OF’s is good for a team. Especially when you have a 5th who is your DH. I just want the situation resolved so these kids can move forward. They have both regressed so far this year under the current platoon.
This is the best lineup Gardenhire can put out there. C’mon Go-go, two hits and three steals tonight–cement your position.
romer,
I actually would like to see Harris moved down to an RBI slot myself as well. I wouldn’t mind putting Gomez in the 2nd spot for a while to see if he can grow off his opposite field approach. He does distract the heck out of the pitcher when he is on base and that is a good thing with the big bats up.
Obviously he would have to prove he can get on base or you have to move him back down again. I think he was on the verge of getting hot, hopefully he can pick that back up after 1/2 a week off.
Thry and I would like some company on the trish blog….We are sick of talking about what romer drinks.
flatblade….be careful as the last time he played really well for a couple games he was awarded 4 days on the bench.
**yes I realize it had more to do with the NL rules than anything**
I like this lineup. Good to see Gomez and Span both in the OF with flyball pitcher Baker on the hill.
Now if only we could move Cuddyer to 2nd…
dr i rely on joe and len3 for updates, linups and news it would seem rather cavalier to bug out when the game starts.
I am always here, ggg.
twins win 7-1
mauer 3 hits, cuddyer gomez multiple hit games.
Thought I would show what I know.
I would like to enter the contest(?)Doc. I had a couple thirteen fourteen Miller Gold Drafts this week myself. (thrylos, i call them my draft “picks”. good one, eh?)
kojis, thanks! Now I can watch TO on “Superstars” instead of the game.
Doc, my drinks are usually triples. So 3 = 9.
That was Sunday evening. Too dangerous for me to drink after a Twins loss.
You are in Shaun….but 26-28 does not a winner make.
thrylos, i call them my draft “picks”. good one, eh?
Depends on the round you are at 
Ya, I saw that down in Jackpot, romer….. You were so drunk I saw two of you.
Kujo72, that is about what I expect also. Brilliant minds think alike.
Detroit’s starter tonight, Galarraga, is 0-7 with a 6.89 ERA in night games this year compared to 4-0 and 3.86 ERA in day outings.
One can only hope.
Glad we’ll miss Verlander and Greinke this week. Let’s see if the Twins start hitting like monsters.
In semi-Twins-related news, I read the article about the pitchers from India that won the reality TV show. It talked about their impending pro debuts and quoted their manager…Tom Prince.
Much better first at bat for Harris today than yesterday!
Romer, I think that’s just the beer talking. I think missing Greinke and Verlander hurts us. Those guys would make our players stay focused and get their adrenaline running, but that’s just my theory.
I’d love to know how many runs Twins are averaging a game with Mauer batting second and Mauer batting third. Anyone know offhand?
Wow Mauer! Don’t see him look this bad very often. Hope it’s a very short term pain.
Shaun, romer does not drink beer.
Wow. What a line-up, I like it.
This will take US to the WS.
Go Twins……Down w/ 98!
let’s hope Baker’s showing his number to the sky tonight. sorry start for the meat of the order.
Keep it up Nick. I got your back.
`Cousin Vinny
At any moment, we should expect to hear from the trade-Mauer-now-while-his-value is high crowd.
Anyway, btw.
i think we should trade mauer before he cools off. get some aa prospects.
I suggest we trade Mauer for 5 Billion cases of beer, and sell the cases for $10 each…. $50 Billion. hmmmmmmm.
Shaun, re your 7:14, I was thinking that too.
Because they sure looked unmotivated last night.
we were .500 when he got off the dl and now we’re .500 after all this time, what good has he done?
now he can’t catch getting baker all screwed up.
what’s the over/under on hits tonight for KC’s ss Pena?
It’s gotta get hot first. We’ve had like what, 3 days this year?
Considering that the Twins have one of the league’s worst records when scoring first, this is a good start a positive omen for the Twinks.
I mean gotta get hot before I start pounding beer. In another week…..
the shock therapy is working!! He didn’t slide head first!!
This team is a weak-hitting team. They are what the Chicago White Sox used to be and kind of still are……hope for the 2 or 3-run homer.
boom
They sure are making Bannister look like a strike-out pitcher, which he is not. This team needs a new hitting coach, badly!
That’s the first beef cow I have ever seen being milked by machine. Thyrlos, do you have any stats on the number of beef cows milked in the United States?
Dryburn, I’ll betcha that most of the Twins players end up with stats at or near their career stats. Timing is everything.
GO TWINS!
good one pete…. you are a real steer. or is it gelding.
Twins are nothing but a 500 club Bill Smith does nothing to improve this team.
Very inconsistent team
I am dying having to watch the Royals tv Ryan L. is so BAD!
Right back at ya Doc. A knee slapper.
Good job, Bake. He swung at ball four about four times.
86 pitches. 4 innings. Against Kansas City….a team with no .300 hitters in the line-up. Wow, just wow.
epic battle epitomizes Twins season — 11 pitches to put away a .100 hitter. so, would La Russa bat Pena 8th?
Keep those opposite field hits coming Gomez!
Nice to see Go-Go at least has not stopped putting some good swings out there despite the time on the pine. Could really use a good 2nd half from him.
Let’s not call ourselves Twins nation since that puts us in the same category of Red Sox nation, Raider nation and other arrogant pompous fans that feel the need to let people know they are better than you by creating their own nation. We are Twins fans and better people for it. Let’s bring back that 87 and 91 feeling and get rolling again
So Gomez gets a leadoff single. Something brewing. He’s gotta get a chance to steal second, right? Chance to pick up a run without another hit.
Nope.
Last night we’re treated to Harris bunting in the first inning, now this.
What is this team thinking?
It really is getting old to see the Twins hitters go 0 for 35 with runners in scoring position. Can’t anybody be a clutch hitter anymore? And Baker’s struggles are getting old, too. When is this nightmare going to end?
is Keppel up in the pen?
i saw keppel throwing. hope we aren’t throwing in the towel.
THAT’S THE BREAK WE NEED.
NOW GET GOING!
Baker’s going to need a relief pitcher during this at bat.
Get him out of there, Gardy. He’s going to hurt himself, much less lose the game.
33 pitches to the last 3 kc batters. whoa.
Alright! Now get some runs!
Ummmm, put up a crooked number?
We’ll take anything but a 0, Shaun.
well, I give Baker credit for keeping all the flys in the park tonight.
That’s just bad managing, right there, and I don’t care that Baker got through the fifth.
Manage to win the game, please, not to give your starter a chance for the W.
You’re lucky, and you’ll be lucky if he isn’t hurt. He obviously had nothing left in the fourth. And you run him out there for another inning pumping 84 MPH fastball after fastball.
Sheesh.
Right Chief. Baker has got to be history. One run lead is not enough though.
c’mon Keppel, don;t let the bad call get to you.
Damn Gardenhire, he should have started Punto at short…
Some insurance would be nice here.
I’m listening to the game on the radio and, if there’s a worse play-by-play announcer in major league baseball then Dan Gladden, I’d be shocked. The guy is terrible. And what’s with the self-satisfied smugness or arrogance he shows. The guy would be a below average announcer in Class A ball.
so far so good for keppel
Dan Gladden is painful and Robby Incimkowski is as painful.
I guess if you can’t bitch about the Twins because they are ahead, by all means, find a way to bitch about the radio guys…
Get rid of Punto and Call up Tolleson. What is Bill Smith waiting on. We need Tolleson Now.
What is with all the fans behind home plate yawning? Did the Royals pass out copies of LaVelle’s column during the 7th inning?
You Joe is slumping when he fans twice in game. He’s going in and look like Morneau is coming out of slump.
Kubes you could always help balance this by getting hot.
Anyone else wondering why Keppel is going a 3rd inning? Got my fingers crossed on this one.
I gotta wonder about sending out Keppel for the 8th.
Whewwwwww! Great job Keppel! Already worth your call up kid.
This is where ideally you would go to Nathan, not Guerrier.
Take a cue from Rivera’s 500th save…Gardy won’t do it.
got that right, Jason
but then, that’s why I am sitting here at home.
It’s not that I don’t have confidence in Guerrier…he did his job…it’s just, in that situation, you should go with your closer.
Of course Nathan would rather start an inning fresh…that’s the easiest way to get a save…but when it’s all on the line in one at-bat, don’t you want your best guy out there?
Has Gardy ever pinch hit for Punto in his career?
gritty win
Good win, in spite of Gardy leaving Baker in to pitch the 5th, Keppel to start the 8th, and Nathan to not finish the 8th…Right Chief?
I think they are worried about Nathan cooling off if we have a big inning between.
Like we’re ever gonna have a big inning, LOL!
i guess we can all jump back on the wagon.
right, ggg. a little help from oakland would be nice. they trail detroit 4-1 in the sixth.
Good win. But torturous 5 innings from Baker.
Perkins tomorrow. Gotta get those bats going.
Wasnt a pretty performance by Baker, but I give him a good deal of credit for the way he battled those guys that just kept fouling balls off over and over. If he had given in and walked someone there, this game may have ended very differently.
Keppel was HUGE, by the way. Not sure I’m ready to expect that kind of performance every time he gets the ball, but if he can produce like that regularly, it makes a big difference.
Might be more getting back on the wagon if they win the series tomorrow. You can easily make a case they should have done more on this trip but if they win all 3 series that a pretty nice step in the right direction for a bad road team with a boatload of issues.
Get it done boys!
Right Kirby. Could have done more, but……….
Pujols had TWO more homers tonight.
Hey LEN3-
Thanks for getting us in the blog!
Just wanted to update the final tally:
Nick Matthewson: 175
Brenden McGibbon: 169
Sam Lehman: 163
Bill Dokken aka Thrill Shakken: 162
Best road trip ever!!
Span’s bat hasn’t been as snappy. Mauer’s eye hasn’t been as keen.
Did the StLou heat take a little too much out of them?
I think a person relaxes after recovering from a heat experience. Ya just don’t want to push yourself to get hot again.
They didn’t have much attack in them on Monday night. And they have 7 games coming up in Texas the next month or two. So I hope they figure it out.
Keppel has figured it out.
Keppel has figured it out.
Keppel has looked very good, and as JC said above, was huge tonight.
But let’s get a little larger sample size before we decide he’s an answer.
Unlike Ayala, though, he does appear to have a sinker that actually sinks.
“a career .536 OPS hitter is a bit suspect as a hitting coach?”
Walt Hriniak (lifetime BA=.253) and Charley Lau (lifetime BA=.255)are two of the best hitting coaches in our lifetimes.
Those who can……….do.
Those who can’t……..teach.
[…] LaVelle informed us that with Riccardo Ingram leaving the Red Wings (hopefully temporarily) for medical reasons and Rich Miller moving from Beloit to Rochester, the Twins hired former Twin Chris Heintz as the batting coach at Beloit. I saw in the comments section of LaVelle’s blog that some think he won’t be a good hitting coach for those young players because he hit very little at the big league level. That’s more than a little silly. What does big league success have to do with the ability to coach. Tom Kelly is generally considered an excellent manager, and his big league career consisted of 147 plate appearances in 1975. Bobby Cox had a career OPS of .617 in his two seasons with the Yankees. Tony Larussa played in six big league seasons over an 11 season period. He never had more than 123 plate appearances in a season. His second most plate appearances in a season came in 1968 when he had 53 plate appearances for the Kansas City A’s, at the age of 18. Some of the best hitting coaches in baseball history were not Hall of Fame hitters. Some weren’t even good. Not all good pitching coaches have been Hall of Fame pitchers. I would argue that the guys who had to fight just to get a big league opportunity would be much better coaches and managers than the guys who got there naturally and didn’t fail as often. Ted Williams was not a good manager, or hitting coach. Ability to coach has very little to do with ability to play. I say good for Chris Heintz. […]
