I would drop out of grad school for this in a heartbeat if it was just about any other team.

If you’re here from the Glee Club Scavenger Hunt, you really want to follow this link
Given all the research I did as a youth on women in baseball, this article makes me extremely happy. I was aware of Pam Postema, who umped in the minors about twenty years ago, but I hadn’t heard about Ria Cortesio until I came across this article. (The article fails to mention Amanda Clement who was an umpire for semi-pro leagues in the midwest back around the turn of the century, and I think the first female ump.)
Maybe if this whole computer science thing doesn’t work out, I’ll switch careers… at the very least I should look into umping for summer rec leagues.

The All Star game roster has been announced — and Mauer’s on it! (And he was named the American League player of the month for June.) Varitek is sitting this one out, but Papi, Manny, Papelbon, and Mark Loretta will be there representing the Sox. This will be Manny’s tenth — as in two digits — All Star appearance. Johan “Cy Young” Santana will also be in there for the Twinkies.
If you still want opportunities to vote, Francisco Liriano, June’s American League rookie of the month, is up for the remaining “Final Man” position. I’d change my button, but, well, I’m lazy.

If you’re here from the Glee Club Scavenger Hunt, you really want to follow this link

Ticket to Toledo Mudhens vs. Indianapolis Indians game: $8 Convenience fee for buying ticket online: $1 Parking: $3 Sheyboygan Bratwurst with sauerkraut and brown mustard: $5 Souvenir cup soda: $4 Erin’s first minor league experience: Priceless

Last night I had the urge to get out of the house and go to a ballgame, but alas, the Tigers are in Pittsburgh this weekend, so I needed a back-up plan. Enter Toledo — only an hour away and home of the 2005 International League (AAA) Champion Toledo Mudhens, farm team for the Detroit Tigers (and formerly for the Minnesota Twins). The tickets are significantly cheaper and the seats were better than anything I could afford at a major league ballpark (I was pretty much right behind home plate). They still price gouge you with the food, but my sum total was still cheaper than the cost of any ticket at Fenway.
Of course, I had to deal with the fact that I didn’t recognize the names of any of the players, save for Dustan Mohr, who once upon a time got some big league play with the Twins. But I did get a look at the possible superstars of tomorrow. Craig Stansberry went 2 for 4 with a homerun for the Indians (farm team for the Pittsburgh Pirates) and Ryan Ludwick, who homered for Toledo with a man on base to put the Mudhens into the win category.
But there’s more to a minor league game than just the game — there’s also the between inning entertainment. We had Jamie Farr (aka Corporal Klinger on M*A*S*H), Toledo’s local celebrity, giving us the rules of the ballpark (via Jumbotron) — “Those embarassing their mothers will be escorted out.” We had giant mud hens, Muddy and Mudonna, doing the macarena. We had fans dressed up in giant mattress costumes trying to catch little foam pillows for a chance to win… I don’t remember what. And there was another guy who won a year’s supply of potato chips for accurately tossing three baseballs into a “strike zone” from a distance of approximately 20 feet. We had a polka band playing the German national anthem (because apparently it was German-American Heritage Day). We had a high school homerun derby and to close it all up, we had fireworks. All in all, a highly enjoyable day at the ballpark.

Mauer’s stats last night: 4 hits (including a triple and a double), 5 RBI
Mauer’s current batting average: .377
Mauer’s current ranking in the All Star votes: 3rd
While this is two places better than he was ranked last week, he still has a ways to go to catch up to Pudge and Tek. I mean, I get it — Pudge is probably the greatest American League catcher of the past 20 years or so, and Tek is, well, the captain of the Red Sox. But c’mon people — this is absurd. And it’s not just Twins fans who are making the case for Joe these days. MLB.com has an article up and Yahoo! sports is featuring Mauer on their MLB splash page, linking to this column (which reports that Mauer is currently dating Miss USA — sorry, Lisa).
Seriously, even if you’re not a baseball fan… click the button and vote. If you’ve already voted, get another gmail account and vote again.
And for a Joe M. that children should not strive to emulate, check out this clip of minor league manager Joe Mikulik flipping his lid on the field.

Before I get to the game, I’d like you to all note the new graphic along my sidebar as I ponder the following question: Why isn’t Joe Mauer leading the All-Star ballot for catchers? Going into tonight’s game, his .377 BA leads the majors. He also leads all catchers in runs (37), hits (89), doubles (19), and stolen bases (7). By comparison, Varitek, who is leading the vote, is hitting a paltry .262. (I realize that the bulk of the people who read this who are so inclined to vote would never vote against Tek, but it’s worth trying.) So click on the button over to your right, get your 25 votes in (or more if you care to use multiple e-mail addresses), and vote Joe! (And if Joe Mauer himself should read this, call me.)
Onto to tonight’s game… the return of The Rocket (which means that it was broadcast on ESPN, so I had a chance to watch myself some Twins baseball). Clemens had a quirky start — first pitch strike followed by what looked like was about to be excellent fielding to stop a Luis Castillo single from making it up the middle… only he bobbled it and Castillo reached on an error. After such an odd beginning, the game turned into a solid pitcher’s duel between Roger Clemens and Francisco Liriano… that is until the 3rd inning.
After Liriano did his duty as a pitcher-at-bat and struck out, Luis Castillo came up to face Clemens for a second time, this time hitting a legitimate infield single followed by a stolen base to put him on second. Chairman Mauer grounded out (but it’s okay, he’s still my favorite), to bring up Jason Kubel, who hit a long double to deep left center to score Castillo. Kubel came around himself on a 3-2 single by Michael Cuddyer, bringing the Twins up 2-0.
Clemens lasted a few more innings, but was relieved in the fifth, trailing the Twins by two runs. The most the Rocket could hope for in his big comeback was a no-decision. But the Twins did their best to serve Clemens the loss. Justin Morneau was the first batter up after Roger hit the bench, and he jacked a homer to right-center field, putting the Twins up 3-0. In the eighth, my boy Joe finally demonstrated his sweetness by singling to left and later scoring on a Torii Hunter single to bring the Twins to 4 runs.
In the meantime, Liriano demonstrated what a pitcher in his prime can really do, taking a shutout into the eighth before giving up a short two run homer to Jason Lane. Rumor has it that the left field fence at Enron Field isn’t actually legal distance from the plate anyway. Joe Nathan, touted as one of the best closers in baseball, came in in the bottom of the ninth, striking out two on his way to retiring the side and earning the save.
Nice try there, Roger… wasn’t quite enough though.