Wednesday, April 26, 2006

Links of the Day for 4/26/06

by Intern Jimmy

Apologies for today’s minimal contribution. Late hours in the office coupled with a wild weekend home for Notre Dame’s spring football game left less than optimal time for TG. Minnesota was on the mind as I talked some Cretin-Derham Hall and Apple Valley football with two Irish senior stars and hyped the merits of Twin Cities living with Ohio State LB A.J. Hawk if he happens to fall to the Vikings this weekend.

Good Trend, Bad Trend: With last night’s saving grace victory, the Twins now stand 8-11 with every win of the come-from-behind variety. Granted, these aren’t all late inning comebacks, but it’s true they have not scored first in any triumph thus far. This Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde persona will wear on a team over the course of a year. The ability to beat somebody from start to finish is essential. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing that the boys turn in timely hitting and act like a pesky gnat when they fall behind. Your thoughts Twins fans?

Catching Up With…Doug Mientkiewicz: Everyone’s favorite 12 letter multi-pronounceable Gold Glove first baseman, Doug (for brevity’s sake) has embarked on an odyssey of sorts since leaving the team where he made his mark. A mid-season trade in 2004, Doug famously caught the final out that sent Red Sox Nation into ecstacy, then alienated himself by refusing to relinquish the curse breaking ball back to the team. Exhausting tabloid stories ensued and Doug’s impudence found him playing for the underachieving Mets last season before being exiled to MLB’s Isle of Elba, Kansas City. For a K.C. fan’s perspective, I talked to my buddy Zeller (no relation to Brad) about Doug’s reception in Kansas City. “Indifference. Nobody has a problem with him, yet.” I suppose there are plenty of other glaring problems for Royals fans to worry about.

Worth Noting: The Chicago Cubs recently called up Michael Restovich. With Derrek Lee on the sidelines for the next couple months, Restovich may get the ample playing time he never received in Minnesota. We’ll see if he can finally validate those gaudy minor league numbers. Good luck on the North Side Michael.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

That makes at least four former Twins on the Cubs--Restovich, Walker, Jones, Blanco. Do you think they heard the White Sox say they copied the Twins and took it a little too literally?

Anonymous said...

Fortunately for Doug it's ELBA and not ST.Helena !!

Anonymous said...

All I can say is, it's just like a Red Sox fan to raise a fuss about a baseball. It's Dougie's ball. He shouldn't have been made to give it up.

That was the worst case of "Hey mister, can I have a ball?" I've ever read.