Player of the Game: Minnesota's Own Nathan Hanson, who dramatically raised his batting average last night http://twinsfanfromafar.blogspot.com [Originally published, with more pictures, at Twins Fan From Afar] I stayed for all ...
Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Twins welcomed Jim Thome back to Target Field for what could be his last series in Minnesota. Over the course of the three game set, Thome made his presence known by hitting a monster shot over the batter's eye in one game and a three run bomb on Thursday night. Fans of the Twins still cheered his powerful swing as Thome got to do his best Paul Bunyan impression for the last time in the "Land of 10,000 Lakes." ...
On Thursday night, the Beloit Snappers beat Peoria 5-3. It wasn’t just another game and just another win for the team. With the win, the Snappers clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2007. In the Midwest League (and the Florida State League), they play two halves of the season. The division winners from each half make the playoffs and the MWL has a wild card spot. Wisconsin won the MWL West division over the Snappers, but the Snappers get the wild card. I thought it would ...
Unquestionably, Trevor Plouffe has been one of the hottest hitters in the month of June, smacking eight home runs and five in the past six games. Needless to say, it took plenty of work and patience on both the part of Plouffe and the Minnesota Twins to coax this power out. If you review his minor league numbers, he was scarcely a player one would describe as being blessed with raw power. After all, he hit 49 home runs in his first 680 games in the minors, hardly a fountain of clout. ...
Trevor Plouffe hit another home run tonight. But so did Jim Thome, so Plouffe was unable to close the gap at all (607 to 22). Thome’s damage was also a three-run shot, while Plouffe’s was solo. The rest of the offense was pretty stagnant, and failed to plate any more runs (while also failing to win their fifth straight series). It’s been an interesting past few weeks for the no-longer-shaggy Trevor Plouffe. After Luke Hughes was DFA’d, many wondered how closely Plouffe would ...
On Thursday night, Scott Diamond allowed four runs over six innings against the Phillies. It qualified as arguably his worst start since being called up back in early May, but it was hardly a disaster and would have kept the Twins in the game had the offense mustered any kind of production against Joe Blanton. Even after turning in just his second non-quality start in eight tries, Diamond remains the class of the Twins' rotation. His recipe for success up ...
Josh Willingham: Trade Bait? [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] Over the past few weeks, I have enjoyed reading various posts from other bloggers concerning the Twins' potential trade chips. Names like Denard Span, Matt Capps ...
[Originally posted at: http://minnesotasportshub.wordpress.com/] Ever since the Twins traded away Johan Santana before the 2008 season the organization has been searching for the all important ace of their pitching staff. For four seasons they have rummaged through their minor league system in order to pinpoint who this mystery ace would be and every name that emerged was struck down by injury or lack of production. Then suddenly, just as the pitching staff had hit rock bottom with ...
Updated 06-14-2012 at 01:10 PM by awstafki
Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan With the Twins playing better baseball over the last couple of weeks, there has been plenty of talk about whether the Twins will be buyers or sellers when it comes to the trade deadline. While that date at the end of July will be very important for the Twins, there is another important deadline coming at the beginning of next month. Teams ...
As PJ Walters walked slowly off the field with a trainer in the top of the first after failing to get an out through the game’s first four batters thoughts immediately jumped to the Twins’ starting rotation. Scott Diamond will be on the mound on Thursday in the series finale versus the Phillies. Francisco Liriano and Nick Blackburn are back in the rotation after missing starts. Carl Pavano is on the Disabled List. PJ Walters will have an MRI on his shoulder on Thursday. Who will make upcoming starts ...
The Twins, looking to continue a pretty good stretch of baseball, started off rough. Starter P.J. Walters lasted only into the first inning, and his velocity was reportedly way down. Walters (or the coaching staff) put the Twins in a hole, and I'm curious what the post-game reports are going to indicate regarding Walters' health to start the game in the first place. Jim Thome hit another mammoth home run at Target Field, an estimated 466 feet. Even at 41 years of age, he still has something left ...
There has been a lot of talk all year about MLB Umpiring. I have umpired baseball from little league to high school to softball. I personally like umpiring as it is as close to the game you can get without being in the stands. You are also part of the game, and a game that most umpires really love. You never want to make a mistake as an umpire because as a player you rely on what is right or wrong, and work hard at it. All umpires are going to make mistakes, I would say no umpire is trying ...
With the Twins recent resurgence there is a renewed hope throughout Twins Territory that the 2012 season is not completely hopeless. Winning ten out of their last thirteen games and playing in a weak Central division definitely helps to build that hope but there is a possibility that we are just being teased into believing in the 2012 lineup. After all eight of those wins have come against teams below .500. If that possibility becomes reality it’s more than likely that come trade ...
[Originally published with more pictures at Twins Fan From Afar] For the second consecutive year, my wife and I made the flight to Minnesota for Justin Morneau's Casino Night. It's a charity event for the Arthritis Foundation -- specifically, juvenile arthritis (Justin's niece suffers from juvenile arthritis). It's part of the Twins week of hope. Instead of hitting up a couple ...