Twins Blog

Posted by: Peter J. Nelson

The "wanna-be Twinks" couldn't pull it off.  At least, Garz and Bart made it to the dance, right?

Nope, it still hurts. 

Now that '08 is "officially" done, I wanted to share some of my fondest memories of the past season.  Some you've seen ... many you've not.

It only took a month to get over that one run in Chi-Town ... even though it should have been played in the Dome ... because every other tie-breaker is decided by the best record instead of flipping a coin ... that's absolutely ridiculous!  I'm not saying the Twinks would've pulled it off at home ... but isn't it sooo awesome to sleep in your own bed before a ginormous stress-filled day??  OK ... maybe I'm not over it ... just yet.



When February comes and I'm back down in Fort Myers ... then I'll be over it.

Until then ... uhhh ... Go Vikings? 

Posted by: Peter Nelson
Too nervous. One game for everything.

I'm just sitting here and monitoring the current financial crisis, the historic election and random violence throughout the city.

There'll be more words tonight at 6:30pm. Toby and I will be here.

Log onto WCCO.COM and you'll find a running conversation during the game…because it's just not good enough to shout at the TV anymore…we need to shout in cyberspace.

Posted by: Toby Collodora
One of my favorite things is watching people watch sports -- on television.  I get such a kick out of how people -- including myself -- yell at players on TV like the player can magically hear them in the stadium that's 1,000 miles away.

Yet, we still yell at the TV.  And Peter and I will be here yelling at the TV tonight.  In fact, I wonder if all Minnesota fans are simultaneously yelling at their TVs tonight, if it will be enough for the Twins to hear all of us cheering them on down on the south side of Chicago.

That's not friendly Twins territory, but a boost from us can't hurt, right?  What do we have to lose?  Just our voices.  And there will be plenty of time for those to recover before Thursday's ALDS game 1 in Tampa Bay.   Think of Chicago as a warm-up.  We're going to have to yell a lot louder for the sound to get to Tampa Bay.

And on a totally separate note -- a gem for those of you who have been following us all year.  Peter's rumored to show up to work today in a full-on baseball uniform.  If I see it, I promise pictures.

Posted by: Peter Nelson

It all comes down to one game. One hundred and sixty-two games and it comes down to one.

 

The way last month has gone it felt as though this one game playoff was inevitable. It seemed like no one wanted to take control of the division when they had the opportunity.

 

My gripe is where the game's being played. The Twins edged the Sox 10-8 in the season series, so you'd think the Twinks would have home field advantage, right? 

 

Nope.  It was decided by a coin toss a couple weeks ago: Read this article.

 

What's up with that? A coin toss? What is this … football??

 

The team with the best record should have the advantage. I can't afford to go to Chicago tomorrow.

Posted by: Toby Collodora

And now there's a freaking rain delay.  Seriously.

So now we wait some more.   

Posted by: Toby Collodora

Ah, the waiting game.  I haven't written much this weekend, because really, I've been waiting for something to write about. 

And really, that's the story.  We're waiting.  And watching, intently.  We lost Friday and we waited.  We lost Saturday, and then we waited, to see if the Sox would lose too.  (They did, for anyone not paying attention.)  And then we pull out a win against the Royals -- and who would have thought that would have been so hard -- and we wait to see what Chicago does today.

Reminds me of waiting at the Metrodome in 2006 to see if the Twins took the title.  I'm all for the excitement, but maybe next year, when we win the division title, we could do it without all the "what-if" scenarios and being dependent on other teams.

It doesn't always work out in our favor.  Mets fan anyone?

Posted by: Peter Nelson
If you don't ... here's a reminder:







It was nuts leaving the Dome:



That was the PG version.

Let's make it even crazier today.

I'm off to the Dome.

Posted by: Karna Bergstrom

 

I'm back blogging, just for the mere fact of feeling the Twins fever from afar.

 

This series has made me so superstitious it's a little insane. I have also been trying not to completely invest myself for the fear of getting an ulcer or having a panic attack.

 

Example: I was at a Twins vs. Royals game in Kansas City that went into extra innings. I was so invested I couldn't even sit there anymore ... I stood up in the concourse, hands folded across my chest, waiting to see what would happen next. They ended up losing, I was crushed and uttered several expletives on the long drive back from to the Cities.

 

So ... how superstitious am I? And not just me, but Peter too...

 

* Last night, I wouldn't watch the game because I didn't watch the game Monday night and they won. In the 9th inning, I just stared at Peter to see his reaction to Joe Nathan's pitching.

 

* I wanted to wear my Twins hat today ... but realized I had kept it in my front seat for the last couple days, and they've won the last couple games, so it will stay there.

 

* I refuse to throw away the Twins mini-schedule that has been in my purse for the entire season. It's ripped and ratty but will stay in my purse because the season is NOT DONE!

 

* When I came into work today I asked Peter if he had his white Twins cap -- the same hat he showed me on Monday. He pulled the crumpled hat out of his pocket during our afternoon meeting two days ago to show his Twins pride. Today I HAD to make sure he still had that hat with him.

 

* Peter is also wearing the same long, blue Twins socks he was wearing yesterday -- no desire to get close to those feet!

 

Peter gets to go to the game today, while I sit here not watching again, hoping someone else will yell or clap at their TV so I know what's going on. There will be NO PETER to watch.

 

I know being superstitious is a little ridiculous ... but I am and will continue to be until proven otherwise (and hoping that doesn't happen)

Posted by: Peter Nelson
Even your own fans want you to give up! This was emailed to me today. It comes from Chicago's Rosenblog. No relation to our Rosen but if he's anything like ours the Sox should probably listen.

Headline: Sox should forfeit now, while they're ahead

Really?!?! I couldn't have said it better myself. Go home! You'll be better off.

I talked my way into working a day shift today. I would love to head down to the Dome wave to the ChiSox bus pulling out of the Dome to go to the airport. Then I could go home and take a nap.

But then again, sweeping them might be better.

Posted by: Toby Collodora

Good hitting, good fundamental baseball and good starting pitching?  What a game against the Chicago White Sox last night, but seriously, where has this been hiding? 

I'd be excited if this were the kind of Twins team we'd see throughout this playoff push in the month of September.  If the Twins were consistently playing like this, there'd be no question.  The Twins would be playoff-bound. 

Don't get me wrong -- last night's game was awesome!  It was fun, exciting and such a refreshing change.  I thought the roof was going to blow off the Dome after Delmon Young hit his home run immediately after Jason Kubel hit his second of the night.

But I'm now very, very afraid.  Now I'm thinking about playoffs, which I get really excited about.  (As in, the possibility that one of the ALDS games could be on my birthday.  Hint, hint.)  But then I remember Oakland and the depression that ensued after that awful, awful ALDS series.  I don't know if I can handle that kind of disappointment again.