Semi-Triumphant Return

Gentle reader(s)-
While I definitely still love my hometown team, the Minnesota Twins, I broke up with blogging for awhile. We just weren't clicking. I wanted some more space, blogging got scared and we took some time off. Plus, I got a dog.















But now I'm back!

I am now used to hearing a bunch of garbage on TV about the Wolves and the Vikings, but I heard some serious garbage last night: Pat Neshek, our beloved #17, will be out for the 2009 season due to Tommy John surgery. I die. Now, don't get me wrong, I know the other kiddies will pick up the slack, but I genuinely respect Mr. Sidearm. While he's not hideous, his bizarre delivery and sound pitching ability are the reasons why I love watching him, not for his striking jawline. Mr. Blackburn, take a note. In his absence, I'm sure Mr. Neshek will be keeping his grapher blog up-to-date with the latest and greatest.

You Pick 'Em: 2008 MLB Winners

Brought to you by RyanGlanzer.com: MLB 2008 Prediction Game! You should play, too! Have fun and win bragging rights!

For your amusement, here are my ridiculously specific predictions:

Who will win the AL East? Boston Red Sox. The AL East will be a 3-horse race all through the summer before the Yanks and the Blue Jays fall off in late August. The Orioles will be embarassingly bad and will finish behind the Tampa Bay Rays.

Who will win the AL Central? Detroit Tigers. Minnesota will nip at Detroit's heels the whole season, while Cleveland will trade C.C. Sabathia at the deadline after a very disappointing 2008. The White Sox will start the season strong but will finish below the Royals.

Who will win the AL West? The Seattle Mariners will win the division handily after Torii Hunter suffers what effectively is a season-ending injury. Oakland will not contend. The Texas Rangers will see minor flashes of brilliance from their young catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Who will win the NL East? New York Mets. Johan Santana will carry his team into the playoffs but won't be able to win an NLDS game, inciting the ire of the New York media. The Phillies will be not far behind them, and the Braves will go on a dramatic winning streak mid-season and briefly look like they will contend. The Nationals will be terrible, but will benefit financially and morally from increased attendance at their stunning new ballpark.

Who will win the NL Central? Chicago Cubs. The Brewers will give the Cubs trouble the whole season, but they will not be able to seal the deal as they win few of their late non-divisional series.

Who will win the NL West? San Diego Padres. The Friars avenge their 2007 season by beating around the Rockies, and emerge victorious from the tough NL West. Dan Haren implodes after the All-Star break and the D'Backs rotation is unable to pick up the slack. The Dodgers are merely average and the Giants are terrible.

Who will win the AL Wild Card? Minnesota Twins. The Twins will surprise all the analysts this year by contending closely with Detroit, leading a "children's crusade" to the ALCS. Scott Baker's name will be bandied about in AL Cy Young discussions. Much to this blogger's delight, Juan Rincon is traded to the Marlins for a player to be named later.

Who will win the NL Wild Card? Philadelphia Phillies. It'll be right down to the wire between the Phils and the Brewers, but the Phillies will squeak by.

Who will represent the American League in the World Series? Detroit Tigers. The Tigers will handily sweep the Red Sox in the ALDS, and overly-entitled Boston fans will flood internet message boards with their self-misery. The Twins will have a knock-down, drag-out fight with the Mariners, but will win it in the dramatic final game against former Twin Carlos Silva. However, they will be beaten down by this protracted series and will only be able to win one game of the ALCS, as the Tigers' powerful, well-rested lineup proves too potent for the upstart Minnesota team.

Who will represent the National League in the World Series? Chicago Cubs. The Cubs will take straight games from the Mets, who look very little like the dominant team they were during the regular season. The Padres' bullet-proof rotation proves the downfall of the strong Phillies, though Philadelphia manages to steal a game from the Friars. However, the Padres' joy will be brief as they can't overcome the Cubs and are swept in the NLCS.

Who will win the World Series? The Cubbies will go on pure emotion to win a nail-biter in 7 games, marking two '08 championships. Detroit will burn.

Who will win the AL Most Valuable Player? Miguel Cabrera lives up to his reputation, playing a huge role in Detroit's march to the World Series.

Who will win the NL Most Valuable Player? Homegrown San Diegoan Adrian Gonzalez goes deep 39 times, hitting .331 overall and mashing RHPs at the rate of .617.

Who will win the AL Cy Young? Josh Beckett will be predictably good, also taking the AL strike-out crown.

Who will win the NL Cy Young? Jake Peavy will be an upset win over Johan Santana. Brad Penny will come in third.

Who will lead the AL in home runs? A-Rod (56) (who will again be "Mr April").

Who will lead the NL in home runs? Matt Holliday (49).

Tiebreaker: What will Nick Punto's batting average be? 2.68--it will be quite the year for little Nicky Punto.

In Which The New York Media Ticks Me Off

Remember the interminable months of Santana trade rumors and more rumors? I certainly do. What I remember very distinctly, too, is how the New York media outlets devoted hours of coverage to one idea: that while Johan Santana is good, very good, and perhaps the very best in baseball, is he really that much better than someone we already have?

The answer, Minnesota fans already know, is: OF COURSE HE IS.

When his stats, both traditional and sabremetric, are lined up in front of your eyes, it's hard not to get queasy thinking of the way Bill Smith and all of Twins Territory got fleeced by the trade. Sure, Philip Humber is having an okay spring, and Carlos Gomez is showing the speed he was supposed to have. But we should have gotten more, so much more for him.

So while I'm usually not one to complain about coastal bias, I'm pretty well ticked off. Because after all those months of "Is Johan Santana Really That Good?", the New York Times devotes 1,240 words on Santana's change-up. 1,240 slobbery, reverent words on the evolution and wonderment that is one pitch.

I guess now that all really is said and done, this fan can only say: Carlos Gomez better be fast.

Play Ball!

Hurrah! The days of reports from workouts and clinic sessions are over. The Grapefruit League has opened!

Of course, the Twins lost to the Reds, 6-1. Scott Baker started and did well, Matt Guerrier followed suit, and Glen Perkins dug a big hole with a wind-aided 3-run dinger.

Worst of all, the offense was the same as in 2007: practically nonexistent. The lone run scored was on three--three!--consecutive Reds errors.

I almost don't care, though. Baseball's back, baby!

Formerly chubby, newly BPILF-ilicious Boof Bonser opens things up at Hammond Stadium against Dice-K and the BoSox tonight at 6:05 CST.

Twins 2008 Roster: Short on hotness.

These are sad times in BPILF Nation, my friends. Winter has been cruel to us: foxy Torii Hunter bounced to Californ-i-a, Johan Santana and his exceptionally sexy accent followed the money East, and Smiley Matt Garza headed south with cutie cute Jason Bartlett.

Yes, this will be a lean year for us daring few who base our fandom on the physical attractiveness of the men on the field. But hope is not lost! We still have hometown boy and the original BPILF, Joe Mauer. Sexiest Canadian alive Justin Morneau is locked in for six years at an $80m price tag. He is also, tragically, engaged to be married. To someone who is not me.

Joe Nathan is also still in Minnesota, though it remains to be seen if he'll get inked to a longer contract or be dangled as trade bait late in the summer.

There is of course, still Scott Baker, who is still delicious! Boof Bonser is back and he's cut out all the Snickers bars, so we'll give him a shot.

But the most pressing question is, what of these newcomers?

Philip Humber: Acquired from the Mets. Not an attractive roster photo, but not immediately unattractive.
Delmon Young: Again, not UNattractive. Has tendency to make weird shapes with his mouth when someone points a camera at him.
Carlos Gomez: Really, really not attractive.
Adam Everett: One of the goofiest-looking major leaguers since Lew Ford. Seriously.
Brendan Harris: Roster photo makes him look like he belongs on the short bus, however on the field he is semi-hot. Plus, he wears the knickers and tall socks! Sold.
Jason Pridie: No. Just no.

There we have it, Twins fans. Let's hope these goofy-lookin' dudes can at least play.

Thank God My Boyfriend Loves Baseball, Otherwise I Would Move to NYC to Stalk Phil Hughes

Excellent! Noted hottie Phil Hughes has his own little slice of the internets.

He runs contests, tells us about the music he likes, and wow does he have a shitty digital camera.

The Phil Hughes Weblog.

Oh, Phil Hughes....want to lick.

(Link originally from the awesomeness that is Babes Love Baseball.)

Addendum

Yes, I did irritate Brian Buscher. No, Nick Blackburn is only decent looking in real life, not super hot. Thanks to Laur for taking the torch on this one as I've been too lazy to do anything since my laptop broke. At any rate, my story: we were at one of the tables and the last two guys at that particular autograph table were Brian Buscher and Nick Blackburn. Buscher signs my thing and whatever. Nick Blackburn says hi and asks how I'm doing. Rather than confessing how I really felt ("Wow! You're not that hot in person, so I'm disappointed..."), I told him I was well and that I really enjoyed watching him last season. He looks up at me with a perplexed expression and says "Really? Why?" "Well, it was fun to watch you come up from the minors late in the season and start to develop as a major league pitcher. You were my favorite player to watch." Upon hearing this, Brian Buscher looks up at me, with this pissed off face and mutters "Thanks." I kinda shrugged my shoulders at him, whatever cheddar. So yes, I insulted Brian Buscher and I'm not afraid to say it.

Tales from TwinsFest 2008

Good day, fine readers! I'd like to apologize for the extended absence. The past months I've been a busy gal, between the Maid of Honor duties I had for a childhood friend's wedding, Christmas, and a handful of new projects at my day job!

However, not too busy to attend TwinsFest 2008! I'll let Nicky tell the story of how Brian Buscher is jealous of Nick Blackburn (who, IMO, is tragically less attractive up close than he is while pitching).

I do have two rather amusing stories, myself!

Also in attendance at TwinsFest was the boyfriend. When walking up to the Jesse Crain/Brendan Harris/Kevin Slowey table, RG reminsces of a day when he was hanging around outside the Metrodome and a dude came up to him and offered him an extra ticket. Being a friendly guy who'll never pass up a free baseball ticket, he took it. The name on the season ticket was "Bernard Slowey" and apparently the other people with those seats were cheering wildly for little Kevin, who was pitching that day. So RG says to me, "I wonder if they're related to Kevin Slowey, then?". He goes up to Kevin Slowey, hands him the jersey he wants signed and says, "Hey, man, do you know a Bernard Slowey?" to which he replies "Bernard Slowey... nope, don't think so." and my honey walks away looking slightly disappointed. This entire time I am snickering to myself about the failed attempt at establishing rapport with a pro baseball player and as I'm handing Kevin my ball to sign, I turn to RG and say "Oh, I'm so proud of you today." Keving Slowey assumes I'm speaking to him, and looks up from signing my baseball to give me an awkward "thanks!".

Yes, Kevin Slowey. I am proud of you today. Today.

We also took a clubhouse tour, which was quite cool. We saw the dugout, the locker rooms and the press box. After walking through the locker room/workout area and following the group to the press box, I was behind RG and Nicky, distracted by something in my bag. I walked out in the hallway and looked up right as I ran smack into Paul Molitor. Literally. I literally, physically ran into Hall of Fame infielder Paul Molitor.

We also played "Dodgeball" and won free tickets, bought tickets to the April 1st game, and Nicky gave blood. Good weekend.

As of press time, pitchers and catchers report in Fort Myers, FL in just under two days! Who's excited? I know I am!

(Insert Witty Title Here)

Yeah, we've been out for awhile...doing things that are nice. TwinsFest is coming up quick and we here at YB! intend to do some hard-hitting journalism while we're there. By that, I mean that I am going to confess to Nick Blackburn that I have a bizarre love for him, amongst other things. While I admit to my technological shortcomings, I am going to do my personal best to post any/all relevant pictures that we take.
In other news, here comes my shameless self-promotion: my boxing coaches (that is correct, I box) are in the process of opening up their own gym in the city of lovers, Bloomington. We start classes the first week of February. I encourage anybody who might be looking for a super fun (and sexy!) way to work out and/or learn some practical self defense to give it a try. Once their website is live, I will link to it in our little list of things we read. Sorry we were gone for so long, blame it on the holidays.

nataliedee.com

It just seemed like a good thing to put up.

Recently seen on a Nashville-area bathroom wall: Theo <3 Johan

Happy December, fair readers! Our lovely Twin Cities have been walloped with snow (and there's more on the way--I wish I still owned cross-country skiis!) and our lovely baseball team has been the belle of the Winter Meetings ball. What's been goin' on around the Majors? Glad you asked.

Johan Watch: Day 47 (or something)! The Yanks have purportedly offered up Phil Hughes (YUM! -Ed.), Melky Cabrera and a mid-level prospect. But they're not going to stand outside the Twins' suite in Nashville, holding a boombox over their heads and playing Peter Gabriel all night! They might just take their giant sack of money and go home.

The BoSox are hanging around, too, acting like they don't even want Johan. Come on, Theo! How do you think that makes him feel? This isn't junior high. Let's put it all out on the table: you're hot for Johan. You go to sleep at night, clutching a giant plush Wally and dreaming of that slider. You're warm for his pitching form. Everybody knows it. Just ask Peter Greenberg to pass Johan a note during next period, telling him that you'll give his current team either Jacoby Ellsbury or Jon Lester, (both cute, but not really my type. -Ed.) but not both.

In other news:
- The Yankees are planning on beating up on a bunch of kids next spring.
- BATGIRL!
- Lew Ford to Japan! Haha, suckers. Told ya so.
- Carlos Silva could get $10m per year? Crikey. Assuming that happens, how do we not get draft picks?
- Howard Sinker wants you to know that it's okay to hate on Torii. Not that we really blame him.

Pat Neshek = Ador(k)able

Our beloved side-arm is such a slut for autographs. He's a huge collector. Pat just signed 1000 autographs for Topps. He still puts the little baseball stitching inside his "P". So adorable. Baseball players are people too.

Whither Art Thou, Starting Pitching?

OR: Dear Juan Rincon, I Wish You Were Dead and/or Had Been Traded to Tampa Bay*
*same difference, in my opinion

The opening act, ladies and gentleman!
In this corner: RHP Smilin' Matt Garza, IF Jason Bartlett and prospie RHP Eduardo Morlan.
In the opposite corner: OF Delmon "Batshit Insane" Young, SS Brendan Harris and OF Jason Pridie.

Goodbye and godspeed, Matt Garza! We will miss you and your very happy roster photo.

On an entirely different note: Why, God, why? "The deal had originally been thought to include right-hander Juan Rincon, but after some holdups in the negotiations, it was changed to include Morlan instead."

Maybe the negotiation "holdups" had to do with Juan Rincon totally sucking ass at, you know, baseball.

Just a thought.

(Official Site of the Minnesota Twins: Twins land Young in blockbuster with Rays)

Vacation Anyone?

It's about that time of year again...oh wait, not till February. Spring Training is just around the corner. The Twinkies finally released the tentative schedule for ST down in good ol' Fort Myers, FL. What none of you actually know is that I have a emotional tie to Ft. Myers: my family was fortunate enough to have a condo in Naples (a neighboring city) and one of my favorite memories of all time is going to the condo in the spring and watching a Spring Training game in the lovely Florida weather. If anyone (besides you, Laur) wants to make a visit down to see the boys in February, please shoot me an email and it will be hooked up like a tow truck.

Pardon the interruption...

Not baseball-related, but really funny: Eli Manning: I Wish Everyone Had Listened When I Said My Favorite Sport Was Squash

Cooperstown

Hey there dear reader! Do you happen to be a member of the Baseball Writer's Association of America? Really, you are? Fantastic!

Do Yeah, Buddy! a favor and vote in former Twins to the Hall of Fame:
Jack Morris--Game 7, 10-inning shut-out ... bitch;
Chuck Knoblach--notable (to me) because he is the only player whose name I knew when I saw my Twinkies win the Series at the tender age of 7; and
Bert Blyleven--we are still waiting for you to circle us!

Thanks! We appreciate it.

Hot off the stove

Rumors! I try not to pay very much attention to them. Remember when people were talking about Barry Bonds DH-ing in Minnesota? Barry. Freaking. Bonds. I am having a hard time thinking of a player who would fit WORSE into the Twins organization. Barry Bonds is a big ol' plate of crazy!

My point being: most trade rumors are ridiculous hogwash! But let's induldge the crazies for a moment, shall we?

The Hot Stove: It's the Johan Santana show! Starring everyone's favorite Cy Young winner, he of the razor-thin goatee and sexiest accent ever! He's going to the Yankees (Shocked! I am shocked! -Ed.) or perhaps Los Angeles--both the Angels and the Dodgers have been thrown around. Other sources (ESPN) include the Mets and the Red Sox. These being the only teams that could possibly take on 6 years and 130m. He's got a full no-trade clause and likely won't waive it without a long, fat contract with the new team. Veeeeery interesting. I personally hate the Dodgers and the Mets the least out of those teams, so I hope he goes to either. If he goes. I hope he doesn't go. Think we could get Jose Reyes and David Wright from the Mets? David Wright is fine.

I'm very sorry to report this, Nicky, but I hadn't actually heard it before: Matt Garza to the Rays for Delmon Young. Who? The Rays have trade-worthy players, really? If you say so. Mentioning Matt Garza gives me an excuse to post the Best Roster Photo Ever:

Over at FOXSports.com, the always-erudite Ken Rosenthal kindly informs us that trading for Santana will be really expensive. Wow. You don't say!

A heavy heart

Torii Hunter signed for 5 years and 90 million dollars with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim--what a ridiculous name--and Yeah, Buddy! wishes Torii the best of luck as a Halo.

It was brutally obvious that this was how the story would play out at the trade deadline. Remember how he and other blue-chip players criticised Twins management then? That's not the kind of thing that a contented player says to the media. Color me the opposite of shocked. However much affection I had for Two-I, though, I'm in the camp that believes that he's not worth the contract he got. He has struck me as a player who played to get contracts--I'm certainly not saying he took games off, not at all. But I believe that contract negotiations put a little fire under him. That man is a class act, there's no denying it. But he will most likely wind down his career as a lifetime .265 hitter, posting about 20 HR and 90 RBI for the next couple of seasons--respectable numbers, to be sure, but hardly worth $18m a year. I do believe that in three or four years, Angels' brass will be shaking their head as they sign an $18m check.

Having said all that: bloody hell will I miss the guy.

Now that Torii's tale has been told, what of our good friend Johan? Those reliable "sources" tell us that he was offered what amounted to an extension of 4 years and 80mil. Is he worth it? HELL yes. Is he worth what he's asking--6 years at 126 mil? I don't know. But trading that man is a thought that I don't relish.

Should Twins fans get used to this scenario? Opening Day 2008. Facing Torii in an Angels jersey. And the veteran Twins pitcher toeing the rubber that night is ..... Boof Bonser.

Let's Talk Trade and After That, I'm Gonna Bitch About Something.

So, I'll admit, I've been too wrapped up in hockey season to do anything baseball related lately. Call me a sports cheater, it's the truth. One thing that generally puts a smile on my face is the Twins Mailbag on the Twins website. People write in, Kelly Thesier answers questions way more eloquently than they ask. Now, in the last edition, a very estute reader decided to jump right in. If you scroll down to Matt A's question, you will notice something: he asks a question like they are supposed to be asked. Yeah, so, are we gonna quit pussyfooting around and actually pick up somebody that matters? Cause yeah, that would be swell. I mean, this whole Craig Monroe acquisition is new, but...what's he gonna do for me? He's clearly not an everyday outfielder, nor does he offer a huge batting avg. Not that hot, either. Plus, who are they gonna shit can in exchange for him? If it's Garrett Jones, I will weep salty, salty tears.

All right, sit down baby, let mama holla atcha. Now that I have cleared up the baseball business, I would like to move on to something non-sports related: driving in the left lane. It's really not that hard, guys. If you are driving in the left lane, yo ass best be passing somebody. By that, I mean that you should passing somebody in the right lane because you are going faster than they are. It's not that fucking difficult! Seriously! If I'm tailing you, I'm sorry, but I'm not a lead-footed speed freak (well...that's arguable), you're the asshole. Recognize the fact that I'm tailing you because you're going 53 and I want to be going 60, get off your phone, put down your Decaf Venti Vanilla Bullshit Latte and get the hell over. There are so many times that I'm in the right lane and then I'm like, "oh golly, I need to turn left at some point, perhaps I'll change lanes," or "my ass is late and I need to hurry...changing into the passing lane would be my most logical next step to optimizing my road time," and once I make this positional change, I'M GOING SLOWER THAN I WAS BEFORE! WHAT THE FUCK, GUYS?! In Colorado, if you're on a major highway and you're in the left lane and you're ass is NOT passing somebody, you can get PULLED THE HELL OVER! We need that shit here. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, is using the passing lane to FUCKING PASS OTHER CARS. People do not know how to drive. I am not angry when I drive, ask anybody who knows me, I don't make angry faces at people, flick 'em off, nothing. I just get irritated. Heard the old Offspring tune "Bad Habit"? I channel a little bit of that. In the interest of my sanity and that of my fellow Minnesotan drivers, I just want to ask that more drivers just stay in the right lane. I know that there are a lot of sexy songs about being in the fast lane and all that...most of all y'all don't belong there. Sorry.

BPILF: Fall Classic Edition

Here at YB!, we're notorious Twins superfans. But at least one of us (that being me) is a huge baseball fan, in general. So even though my Twinkies didn't make the playoffs, I'm not bitter. I celebrate their successes. In that spirit, I've looked over the two teams competing for the World Series Championship, and judged them based on the always-rigorous "Would ILF?" scale.

A note on BPILF methodology: If you click the links, do Lauren a favor and don't just look at the roster picture (most of them are terrible!) but look at the gallery for a true showcase of the athletic hottness that these fine players represent.

Boston Red Sox: I'll be totally upfront with y'all and say that I fucking hate the BoSox. Not only are they really old and notoriously not attractive--making this BPILF quite difficult to complete--they annoy the crap out of me. Up until and through 2004 I appreciated the BoSox plight, because as a Cubbies fan we shared a similar pain: the pain of choking at the worst possible moment. But then the BoSox won the Series, started giving out huge money to average-at-best players (SEE: Eric Gagne, J.D. Drew, etc) and became perennial contenders with a payroll that is eerily close to that of the "Evil Empire".

But--this is the worst of it! Their irritating fans still cling to this incredible belief, that despite their $140m-plus payroll, that the Sox are the same charming, loveable losers with the can-do spirit that they were in 2004. Cowboy up, my ass! The BoSox are the Yankees.

Having said that, there are a few players who make this year's Fall Classic tolerable on the eyes:
1. Boston Becks. Yeah, he's an ass. He wears a dumbass-looking hemp necklace. He has a soul patch (Dude. It's 2007. Move on.) He's un-sportsmanlike. But he's a fuckin' good pitcher and he knows it, and that's pretty hot. Josh Beckett is that guy in school who's popular and good at sports and knows exactly how hot he is, and you want to hate him for it, but you can't because you agree that he's hot as hell. Well, shit.

2. Jon Lester. He's a cutie. And I would say mean things about him but I can't, because he has cancer.

3. Jacoby Ellsbury.

4. Jonathan Papelbon.

5. Dustin Pedroia. This is a pretty good example of the lack of a depth of attractiveness in the BoSox lineup. On a lot of other teams, he'd be an honorable mention. But with teammates like Gagne, Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell and Youk, he's a hottie by comparison. Sheesh. Message Terry Francona, et al: Find. Hotter. Players.

Honorable Mention: Gonna give some love to the 40-man roster: Kyle Jackson, and... um... Kevin Cash.

Cripes. That was hard.

Now, in this corner: The Colorado Rockies, darlings of October baseball. These are the real underdogs, people! In fact, they are so committed to the underdog label that they decided to start the World Series 0-3, just so they could stage a dramatic comeback. I like the Rox. They have a microscopic payroll and they're chock-a-block full of homegrown talent. They have the presumptive NL Rookie of the Year and NL MVP. No shit, I'm biased. Who can blame me? They are much hotter than their AL opponents. You be the judge:

1. Chris Iannetta. Back-up catcher, yeah whatevs. We tell you time and time again, this has nothing to do with athletic prowess. It's all about being shallow.

2. Troy Tulowitzki. I might be all alone on this one, but I think he's so hot.

3. Brad Hawpe.

4. Seth Smith. Damn.

5. Matt Holliday.

Honorable Mention: More love to the 40-man roster, in the form of Ian Stewart and Sean Barker.

YB! knows that the off-season is approaching, but never fear, because we've got lots of wonderful things planned! I'm working on MLB-wide BPILF lists, culminating in my magnum opus, the BPILF fantasy team. Trust me that shamelessly judging professional athletes solely on their physical attractiveness isn't as easy or as fun as it sounds. Okay, that's a lie. Until next time!