This is a bit of a ridiculous post, but I have to know if I'm the only one.

I make a point to catch as many Twins games on TV as I can, and I've only missed a handful this season. As I watch the day-to-day relationship between Dick and Bert in the broadcasting booth, I can't help but get the impression that Dick is visibly annoyed by Bert at some point during most of the games. I can imagine a couple reasons why this must be:

1.) Bert spends a large chunk of time every single game explaining why pitchers need to get "a good downward facing plane."

2.) Bert spends a large chunk of time every single game explaining how sinker pitchers can overthrow a pitch and actually get better as they get tired.

It is also worth mentioning that one time Bert didn't want to let Dick touch his circle machine when Dick wanted to cirlce his own son in the crowd and that Bert kept calling Kevin Slowey "Brad Radke" a few nights ago.

Does anyone else get the impression that Dick on occasion acts as if Bert is the child he is babysitting?

via 1.bp.blogspot.com

 As Twins fans hold their breath with increasing anxiety as Opening Day approaches sans a Joe Mauer contract extension, I'd like to take a moment to consider an overlooked consequence of a possible future in which Joe has moved beyond our beloved Minnesota.

 As mentioned in the ESPN cover story a number of weeks ago, Joe is phenomenally reliable when it comes to answering fan mail, so much so that ESPN decided to name him the most fan-friendly athlete in all of sports.  While Joe gets all the credit in the article, the real workhorse behind this fan mail enterprise is Joe's only employee - his mom Teresa.

Joe and his mom get together every other week and review his mountains of fan mail. He tells her what he wants to say in his response and makes sure to sign every letter before it is sent, but Teresa is the model employee who does the grunt work of typing up each individual letter.

While Teresa's work has been so superior that she has gotten national recognition for Joe as a fan-friendly star, she is still at risk for losing her job.  If Joe signs a fat contract somewhere on the east coast, their biweekly meetings to review fan letters may be impossible to organize, and Joe will be forced to lay off his mom.

It would be a travesty for Teresa to fall into the ranks of the unemployed, so it is imperative that the Twins front office finds a way to get Joe Mauer a contract extension and keep him in Minnesota - where he is just a short drive away from his mother-son business meetings.

Check out the video below to see Joe and Teresa hard at work.