So, I’m watching Sports Center (after watching the Red Sox lose a heartbreaker to the Yankees) and they start to cover the Twins victory over the Blue Jays with the following intro: “The first place Twins head up north to Canada to take on Toronto…”
Wait just a minute now — I have the following problem with that statement:

• Latitude of Target Field in Minneapolis: 44.982039° N.
• Latitude of Rogers Centre in Toronto: 43.64140° N.

Fun fact for ESPN: The Twins actually travel about 93 miles South to play in Toronto.
(While I suppose that the Sports Center writers could have been referring to the fact that the Twins actually did travel north because they were coming from New York (latitude of Yankee Stadium: 40.82661), I don’t give them that much credit. If they had said “The Twins travel north to Arlington…” without mentioning that this was only true because their previous series had been in Tampa, it would sound equally wrong.)

Obviously my attempt at liveblogging failed… as did the Twins attempt at finally beating the Yankees. Until Jesse Crain came in in the 7th and gave up a walk, a two run homer, and a double in quick succession, it didn’t feel like the Twins were being outplayed, despite the score. Both Mauer and Morneau had balls that just missed being homeruns. Even Brendan Harris just missed an RBI single on a line shot right back to Andy Pettitte that Pettitte seemed the most surprised about. But close only counts in horseshoes (and curling!)… besides which, the 7th inning Yankee slugfest would probably have been enough anyway.
On the subway back to Brooklyn, I met some Twins fans who had a much better time than I did. He had connections that gave them the ridiculously priced diamond seats right next to the Twins dugout. She was pregnant with twins — oh the punning possibilities! As a result of these two factors, she was tossed a ball from both Michael Cuddyer and Joe Mauer! The Mauer ball apparently came when she rubbed her belly and shouted, “They’re twins!” I am so unbelievably jealous. (In the vein of what-a-small-world, she went to Hopkins where she played soccer and hated my high school for beating them in 1997. He went to Anoka but played soccer with two guys I knew — twins, actually — from my high school during the summers. And they met because she went to St. Ben’s — my mother’s alma mater — and he went to St. John’s, the brother school to St. Ben’s that my dad hates.)

12:29: It turns out it’s hat day. What do I do with a Yankees hat?! Also, while only Minnesota, Oakland, and Cincinnati stadiums have won the hot dog condiment gold (for having sauerkraut), Yankee Stadium really comes up short in this realm. They have ketchup, mustard… and that’s it. I wanted relish, damn it!
1:30: Just for the record, from my angle Marcus Thames slid right by home plate without touching it. Unfortunately, the ump didn’t see it from my angle and the Yanks are up 2-0.

I’ve spent the evening on a bus to New York — one that only left 45 minutes late — in anticipation of tomorrow afternoon’s game at Yankee Stadium, for which I have tickets. I left the laptop at home, but I’ve still managed to keep connected thanks to other electronic gadgets – I can even blog via my phone. What a world.
To keep myself entertained, I first attempted to find tonight’s game on the radio. Unfortunately, while my Zune has radio, it only has FM. All I could find was the Spanish language broadcast of the Mets. This wouldn’t do for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I don’t speak any Spanish!
Thus, I was forced to follow the game using ESPN’s live game coverage on my phone. Baseball’s pace actually lends itself quite well to that kind of coverage. I don’t know that I would have felt as informed doing this for, say, an entire football or basketball game. On the other hand, despite an early lead, the Twins still lost. Here’s hoping it’s because they’re saving their best stuff for when I’m in the stadium tomorrow.
For now, it appears this bus has made it to New York. I’m off to crash a birthday party in Brooklyn!

“Love that dirty water…” and since the boil water order was lifted this morning, this must mean that I was finally at a game where the Sox won.
The co-worker I took to the Red Sox-Yankees game a few weeks ago repaid me in kind by offering me his remaining ticket to this evening’s Red Sox-Angels match up. After sitting in Chris Morse’s seats so many times, being relegated to the bleachers felt a bit like slumming it… of course, it was also nice to look straight ahead to see the action instead of constantly angling myself to the left.
While the Sox pulled out what was initially a close game with a four-run 8th inning highlighted by a bases clearing double for Jeremy Hermida, David Ortiz continues to struggle. In four at bats he managed to be responsible for six outs — two K’s and two double plays. His final double play game in the 8th with the bases loaded on a 4-2-3 that stopped a run (and set up Hermida’s double). I’ve been wearing my Big Papi #34 hat all season (because my other Red Sox hat has gone missing) — maybe it’s bad luck for him. Next game I go to in Fenway I’ll wear my Twins hat instead.
And speaking of former Twins players, the bleacher bums seemed to enjoy ragging on Torii Hunter in centerfield for the Angels. Of course, I stopped a number of them cold when I shouted over them “It’s okay, Torii, you’re actually my favorite center fielder in all of baseball.” I’m not sure they could tell that I wasn’t being sarcastic!
Finally, legendary Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell died tonight. I found out from the guy in front of me who was listening to the radio during the game, this prompted the following conversation between him and his friend:

Radio Listening Guy: Hey, Ernie Harwell died.
RLG’s friend: Oh, uh, that’s… sad.
RLG: Tell me you know who Ernie Harwell was.
RLGF: Um, sure, I remember when he pitched for the Sox…
*RLG shakes head*
RLGF: When he pitched for the… ?
*RLG continues shaking his head*
RLGF: Well, he had a great swing for the…
RLG: You have no idea who he is, do you?
RLGF: No, I don’t. But it’s too bad he died.

I think it’s about time I get around to reading Harwell’s biography that’s been sitting on my shelf for years.

My sister sent me a message this evening saying “Guess where I am?” This was followed shortly by the following big reveal:

Yes, that is outdoor baseball in Minnesota. (Her report on the game: “It was a good one!”) Is it Memorial Day weekend yet? Because I really want to see it for myself.

Thanks to Chris Morse’s insistence that sitting through a rainy baseball game is torture and my feeling that a rain delay is still kind of a novelty, I scored another pair of tickets to today’s game. All in all, it wasn’t the best game to be at for a Sox fan. It was rainy, it was cold, and the Sox had no offense. On the other hand, for half of the game, I was cheering for Matt Garza to have the first Tampa Bay no-hitter (the day after the Rockies got their first). Even after Adrian Beltre broke it up with single in the 5th, his attempt to stretch that single into a double allowed Garza to face just the minimum 21 batters in the first 7 innings.

But still, a day at the ballpark in the rain is still better than sitting home watching TV. And there is no better entertainment than a little kid sitting behind you enjoying the game. Because the game was less than exciting, I bring you quotes from a little boy, maybe five years old:

• Being a kid, his attention occasionally wandered. One of these times, his mother instructed him to watch the next pitch, assuring him that something would happen — and something did. Ben Zobrist singled in two runs, giving the Rays a 4-0 lead. The kid retorted to his mom: Why did you make me watch that?
• Shortly after Zobrist’s hit, the kid was talking to his dad, who had been assuring him the whole game that the Sox would come back and win. Dad, how are we going to win? It’s zero to four!
• He had a tendency to cheer for individual Sox batters with his own repetitive song/cheer. Dustin Pedroia’s was the most dynamic, starting with a rhyme: Hit it in, Dustin! Hit it in, Dustin! His father corrected him and the lyrics changed, but the tune stayed the same: Hit it out, Dustin! Hit it out, Dustin! … and then Pedroia hit into a double play and without breaking rhythm, it changed again: What the heck, Dustin?! What the heck, Dustin?!
• His parents explained to him that if a batter hit the Jordan’s Furniture sign in centerfield, Jordan’s would give away a bunch of free furniture. This prompted the kid’s brilliant idea: We should put that sign in our backyard and then I can hit it and then we can get the free furniture!

He also had a snazzy rendition of Sweet Caroline. And as a kid after my own heart, he refused to let his family leave after the 8th inning when the rain came back (as so many did). And he was rewarded in the bottom of the 9th when the Red Sox finally scored their first and only run — and oh, did he let out the most jubilant squeal!

I caught a case of targetfielditis and left work early today to catch the Twins home opener — and inaugural game in Target Field — on NESN. I was pleasantly surprised when NESN showed the Twins legends (plus Kirby Puckett Jr.) coming onto the field but was disappointed when they pulled away to talk about the Bruins. I know it’s Boston coverage and they don’t care, but since the Boston coverage blacked out the ESPN coverage, it would have been nice if they showed us all of it.
Being the first game at the new stadium, there were plenty of firsts to go around. The first pitch of the game was a ball from Carl Pavano to Marco Scutaro, who followed with the first hit in Target Field, and then became the first man to get caught stealing. Denard Span was the first base runner for the Twins with walk, followed by Orlando Hudson’s first hit. Michael Cuddyer had the first RBI three batters later scoring Denard Span, the first run.
Nick Punto had the first stolen base in the second inning, setting up for Joe Mauer having the first extra base hit with a double in the second (and an RBI). Jason Kubel had the first home run in the 7th inning.
The first win? The Twins… as it should be. (Or more specifically, Carl Pavano… and the first save was Jon Rauch.)
(Also, can we just note that the Blue Jays are a top the AL East right now? Go Canada!)

Tonight was my very first Red Sox-Yankees game, and I was all excited to be witness to the most contentious rivalry in baseball. But you know what? I was underwhelmed. I think the rivalry has past its prime. I remember the days when chants of “Yankees suck!” would break out at Fenway even when the Twins were in town. By contrast, there were a number of Yankee fans in attendance tonight and when they pulled ahead in the 10th, chants of “Let’s go Yankees!” could be heard. In Fenway. And no one chanted anything in retaliation.
But I think the clincher of the death of a once blood thirsty rivalry was the following snippet of conversation the guys sitting behind me had:
Sox Fan 1: (pointing a few rows ahead of us one section over) Hey look, that guy’s wearing a Bucky Dent jersey.
Sox Fan 2: Dude, that’s ballsy. Wearin’ that in Fenway?
Sox Fan 3: Man, it’s hilarious.
Sox Fan 1: I know, I kind of want to go shake his hand.
Shake his hand?!?! Five years ago some one would have “accidentally” spilled beer on that guy and managed to get him ejected from Fenway for “causing trouble.” (I saw this happen to a guy in a Yankees jacket at Fenway once.) Now instead, Sox fans want to shake his hand. This rivalry is dead.
On the other hand, those clearly weren’t the smartest baseball fans as we had this conversation at one point:
Sox Fan 3: I’m feeling a double play ball from Jeter right now.
Me (turning around): Uh, there’s two outs. There can’t be a double play.
Sox Fan 2: Dude, she told you.
Sox Fan 3: Oh, well, I meant in the next inning, Jeter’s gonna lead off with a double play.
Me: Really, how is that going to work?
Sox Fan 3: (putting on sunglasses as the lightbulb goes on) I’m just gonna hide my face and pretend this conversation didn’t happen.
Sox Fan 2: Dude, you’re a dumbass. Don’t try to show up the chick with the scorebook.
I think that last line will be the new subtitle to this blog…
Meanwhile, the game itself was everything you could ask for in a ballgame — a ten inning pitchers’ duel broken by a Curtis Granderson, who is maybe the one Yankee I don’t hate given all the time I spent watching him in Detroit. As for the Sox, Lackey pitched well in his Boston debut with six shutout innings to start the game. Normally, you’d expect this to be enough for a win, but the Red Sox couldn’t generate any offense beyond Big Papi’s slump busting RBI single to drive in Pedroia in the third. The Sox have never been a good small ball team, relying instead on a few big bats to homer in a few runs. However, looking at the line-up, it’s not clear who that’s supposed to be these days now that Jason Bay is gone and Papi is a shadow of his former glory. Kevin Youkilis? If he’s the Red Sox great hope, Boston’s in for a long season.
PS — I just read that Justin Morneau homered again for the Twins tonight. Now there’s a ballplayer you can put your power hopes towards. The Twins just beat the Angels for the second game in a row, 4-2. Why could these games have been on national television? And personal to Justin Morneau: Why didn’t you marry me?

Look, I am as happy as anyone that the Twins-Angels season opener is being aired on national television. But, I have an 8 am meeting and the 10 pm start time is not so good for that. So, as much as I want to stay up and wait for Joe Mauer to finally get his first hit of the season to break the current 3-3 tie (it’ll happen, won’t it?), I think I can’t make it.
Also, I am still on the fence on the Twins new uniforms. Does everything have to change with the new stadium? On the other hand, my twenty year old jersey is now officially retro.
This seems as good a time as any to mention that on Wednesday I am going to the Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway. Chris Morse is my hero for that one. I also recently bought a ticket for the Yankees-Twins game in New York in May and am making plans for the June Mets-Twins series. Oh baseball, I’ve missed you.