Twins’ rebirth on Target
Except for the early morning, when sunlight bakes the place like a greenhouse, Jerry Bell’s office down the left-field line at Target Field offers a comfortable and spectacular view inside the Minnesota Twins new ballpark. On the highest shelf behind his desk, Bell keeps three souvenirs of his 23 years as the club’s top executive.
Two are obvious: small replicas of the Twins’ 1987 and 1991 world championship trophies. In between, however, is an inside joke: a model of the Titanic.
That, Bell says, was a Christmas gift from his two daughters, late in the club’s 11-year pursuit of financing for a new stadium. At times, Bell thought the Twins’ effort was as doomed as the ocean liner that sank on its maiden voyage in 1912.
“I’m going through the Legislature. It’s not going well. The next thing I know, they buy me the Titanic,” Bell says. “It was pretty funny.”
Nine years after Twins owner Carl Pohlad offered the club to Major League Baseball for contraction because it couldn’t make enough money in the Metrodome, the Twins will play their first regular-season game Monday in a $545 million open-air downtown stadium.
Click here to read the full article – By PAT BORZI of USA Today
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Nathan has torn elbow ligament
Minnesota Twins reliever Joe Nathan has been diagnosed with a torn ligament in his right elbow, leaving the team without a proven closer less than a month from Opening Day.
Nathan has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will decide whether to have surgery within two weeks, the team said. The Minneapolis Star Tribune first reported the injury.
The team announced Nathan has a “significant tear,” but will not immediately opt for surgery. He will rest and rehab the elbow over the next one to two weeks, then determine whether he can pitch with the injury.
Nathan may get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon who operated on his elbow last October to remove bone chips.
Surgery would likely cost Nathan all of the 2010 season — a potentially devastating turn of events for a team expected to contend in the AL Central Division. Injuries to the ulnar collateral ligament have led to season-ending Tommy John surgery for other pitchers.
Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com
Twins put the ball in Blackburn’s hand for Game 2
If pitching in a Game 163 is like being the playoffs, maybe Twins righthander Nick Blackburn is one up on Yankees righthander A.J. Burnett. Blackburn has the benefit of pitching in a game with the season on the line, while Burnett will be pitching in a playoff game for the first time.
Game 163 last year ended in a 1-0 defeat at Chicago, but the Twins and Blackburn came away from that game believing that the 27-year-old righthander learned just how good he could be.
He’s also pitched well when the Twins needed him the most this season, going 3-2 with a 3.07 ERA in his past seven starts.
“Even in big games like that, I still go out there and stick to my game plan and see where it goes. I can’t say why I go out and have good games. Last year was still a loss in that game, so can’t look at it as a great game.”
Blackburn, on May 16, gave up four earned runs over 723 innings in a 6-4, 11-inning loss at Yankee Stadium. Mark Teixeira hit a three run homer off him in the third inning and is 6-for-6 against Blackburn with five RBI. Derek Jeter is 4-for-7 against Blackburn with three walks.
Blackburn must prove tonight that he won’t be affected by the atmosphere or the big moment. He needs to have his good sinking fastball and use all his other pitches, especially his curveball to lefthanded hitters.
“Yes, it’s definitely a tough lineup, you know,” he said. “but each guy has their own weakness. You just have to find a way to expose them.”
Click here to read the full article – By By La Velle E. Neal III of PostBulletin.com
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Alexi Casilla foresaw his big moment for the Twins
Bench player told teammate that he would be the hero
Unlikely heroes find their way into baseball lore because dubious circumstances tend to put them in the right place when opportunity knocks.
Reserve second baseman Alexi Casilla spent the 2009 season shuttling between Class AAA Rochester and Ron Gardenhire’s doghouse. So, of course, he would be the one to extend the Twins’ historic season into the playoffs.
During batting practice, Casilla told shortstop Orlando Cabrera he was going to win the game for Minnesota. It took more than five hours for him to make good on his pledge.
Casilla entered the game as a pinch runner in the 10th inning and stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 12th against Tigers flamethrower Fernando Rodney with Carlos Gomez at second and one out.
After taking a pitch, Casilla lashed a fastball into right field, scoring Gomez with the American League Central Division-winning run and touching off a wild celebration at the Metrodome.
“At the plate, I was trying to relax, take a pitch,” Casilla said. “He threw me a fastball. I swing, and it happened.”
Casilla took a long, potholed road to be recounting the biggest hit of his nascent career with a bottle of Budweiser in his hand and champagne dripping from his head.
He had not started a game since Sept. 11 and had only three at-bats since.
Click here to read the full article – By Brian Murphy of TwinCities.com
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For Minnesota Twins, there’s no place like Dome
History on Minnesota’s side as Tigers head to Dome for Game 163
It may last just one more game, but historians caution that you shouldn’t rule out another month.
“The place doesn’t want to go away quietly yet,” said Jason Kubel , whose two three-run home runs sent the Minnesota Twins into a one-game playoff against the Tigers for the American League Central title.
He was speaking of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. It will be the site of Tuesday’s 4 p.m. game, after Brett Favre and the Vikings face the Packers there on Monday night. If the Twins can get their 87th win — yes, Ozzie Guillen, that’s all it would have taken to defend the Central title — they’ll get a chance to slay the Yankees, the unquestioned No. 1 seed in baseball’s October tournament.
On paper, there’s no way the Twins or the Tigers can match up to the 103-win Yankees. But you know Joe Girardi and the Yankees will be rooting for the Tigers on Tuesday, and not just because the Tigers failed to protect a seven-game lead with 26 games to play. No visiting team ever wants to play high-stakes games in the white bubble that has been the Twins’ home since 1982.
Click here to read the full article – By Phil Rogers of Chicagotribune.com
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Twins turn to Cuddyer at first base
Word spread quickly through the Minnesota clubhouse before Monday’s game against Cleveland that Justin Morneau would miss the remainder of the season with a stress fracture in his lower back.
Michael Cuddyer, filling in for Morneau at first and in the cleanup spot on Monday night, was among the players who had heard the news before game time. So what did Cuddyer do in place of the All-Star slugger? The new first baseman hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to tie the game, propelling Minnesota to a 6-3 comeback win.
For the rest of the season, much of the time at first base will continue to fall to Cuddyer, who has spent most of his career in right field but has played at almost every position.
Click here to read the full article – By Tyler Mason of MLB.com
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Mauer muscles Minnesota to opening win
After watching his club muster just three hits in a loss at Cleveland on Sunday, in a continuation of its recent offensive skid, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire decided to switch things up a little in his lineup for the series opener against the Blue Jays.
On Monday, he gave Orlando Cabrera and Brendan Harris the day off and started Nick Punto at shortstop and Brian Buscher at third. It was just an attempt to “mix it up,” the skipper said.
“Some really slow bats yesterday and some guys looked a little worn out, so you just try to shake it up,” Gardenhire said before the contest.
Click here to read the full article – By Kelly Thesier of MLB.com
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Twins kick White Sox when they’re down
With the Tigers and Twins pulling away in the AL Central race, the White Sox began cleaning house late Monday night, after their 4-1 loss to the Twins at the Metrodome.
About 90 minutes after the game, word came that the White Sox had traded Jim Thome to the Dodgers for minor league infielder Justin Fuller and Jose Contreras to the Rockies for minor league pitcher Brandon Hynick.
The Thome rumors had been swirling through the Twins clubhouse, as players celebrated their 10th victory in 13 games.
Nick Blackburn, who hadn’t won since the All-Star break, pitched seven strong innings, and the Twins used third-inning home runs from Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel to help pull within 3 1/2 games of the first-place Tigers. Meanwhile, Chicago remained six games back after falling to 1-7 on its 11-game road trip against the Red Sox, Yankees, Twins and Cubs.
Click here to read the full article – By JOE CHRISTENSEN of StarTribune.com
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Morneau may return for homestand
The Twins are still hanging on in the American League Central — and they’ve done it the past six games without Justin Morneau.
Morneau is recovering from an inner ear infection and hasn’t played since Aug. 17. But how about this? The Twins are rolling without him, improving their record to 5-1 without Morneau after Sunday’s 10-3 win in Kansas City.
“Let’s trade him,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire joked. All kidding aside, Gardenhire got some good news this weekend when Morneau, who was at home in Minnesota, sent word that he was starting to feel better.
Click here to read the full article – By Rustin Dodd of MLB.com
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