Passan picks Liriano as his long shot AL Cy Young winner but picks the Twins to finish 4th with 69 wins. Brown only gave us 80 wins and Steve Henson puts us last, also with 69 wins. They have a lot of wacky predictions too, Ozzie Guillen type stuff. Pretty interesting categories. Interesting World Series and playoff picks too. I think I've decided to hate Bryce Harper too, for the record. Just thought you should know.

See more predictions here!

Watching Morney talk about his 2 homer game and I noticed something in his locker. A cigarette lighter sitting next to a tiny canister of something. It's definitely his Iocker - you can see his #33 helmet in there. I wonder what he's burning? Ants? Ceremonial good-luck incense? Or does he keep it on hand to give hotfoots to unsuspecting rookies? And I wonder what's in that little vial too...Check it out...

With their 4-1 win over Chicago on June 15th the Minnesota Twins skewed the course of their season enough to alter the conversation among the baseball punditry. The 1-0 win vs. Chicago the next day confirmed the theory that there exists an alternate 2011, a season where the Twins come back from a 16 ½ game deficit to win the AL Central, the ALDS, the ALCS and the World Series. Hey, now that’s one timeline I’ll be hanging around in for a while!

Over the course of their recent and moderately-sustained winning streak, the Twins have caused the baseball world to pull the 2010 AL Central Champs from the waste bin of the 2011 season. The Twins have been dusted off, a red sticker reading "Terminated" has been removed. There came consensus among fans, a silent and almost unnoticed agreement that ordered a halt to all conversations containing the phrase "What are we going to do next year?"

Suddenly the Twins are not the worst team in baseball; they’re not even the second worst. They are on their way up and though everyone knows it, no one wants to say it. Instead they’re saying things like, "Don’t count the Twins out" and "This team has made some amazing comebacks before." With Mauer coming back for the first game against the Padres at Target Field, and Glen Perkins and Joe Nathan following close behind, Nishioka already here, we started thinking we had a team. And a chance.

Continue reading this post »

Ok, so I'm bored and what better way to cure boredom thatn to look at baseball stats. I took a look at this year's Twins vs. the famous Twins of 20 years ago, after both teams had played 15 games. The results are quite similar. This is not to make a point, or to ease any nerves (though it may have that effect)...This is just for fun. Make of this what you will!

                                            2011 Twins                          1991 Twins

Record                                  5-10                                       5-10

Div. Rank                             5th of 5                                  7th of 7

GB                                          6                                              5

Home                                    2-3                                          3-3

Away                                     3-7                                          2-7

Longest W streak                  1                                              2

Longest L streak                    4                                              7

Runs Scored                         45                                           52

Runs Against                        69                                           70

HR                                        5                                              11

Team BA                              .234                                        .236

Team SLG                           .321                                        .357

Team ERA                           4.61                                        4.42

# MLB Teams with                 3                                              0             

Worse record

April Finish                           ??                                           9-11

Total games won                   ??                                           95

No' more tears over last night's loss - it's time to celebrate the 2010 season!!!

Now that the season has ended we can look back and decide on the most memorable, the most impacting, the most important home runs of the Minnesota Twins’ 2010 season? No need to set this up, let’s jump right in. This links to my blog (sorry if that's against Twinkie Town rules...I'd be happy to repost it here if needed)....

Read the list right here!!! - with video of all 10 home runs!!!!

Guy #1: The ’91 Series was the worst series ever.

Guys #2, #3 and #4: What? Are you crazy? OMG. Best. World Series. Ever.

Guy #1: The home team won every game.

Guys 2-4: So???? Like every game went into extra innings! Classic ending to game 6 on a homer by the Puck. Epic Game 7 extra-inning pitchers’ duel. Are you nuts?

Guy #1: Only Twins fans say it was the best series ever.

Guys 2-4: No, it’s been on ESPN, Peter Gammons, several sources rank it among the best.

Guy #1: Whatever.

So my question to you, loyal Twins fans, is: are we biased? Was ’91 truly one of the best ever or is our judgment tainted by our love for the Twinkies? The 2001 WS is a favorite of mine (mostly to see the Yanks blow it in the bottom of the 9th on a Mariano blown save)…but I believe 91, if not the greatest WS ever, definitely had the most epic finale in Games 6 and 7. But is Guy #1 right? Do fans of other teams agree that 91 was among baseball's best? Thoughts?