Posted August 9, 2010
A friend talking about a small Kansas town that maintains the same population year after year: “A baby is born and a man leaves town.”
Oh-So-Close Defines Twins-White Sox Games
The Wall Street honchos say past results are no promise of future performances, but if previous games in 2010 between the White Sox and Twins are indicators of what will happen this week in Chicago then get ready to break out the Maalox.
The Central Division leading White Sox are one-half game ahead of the Twins as the two teams prepare for a three-game series that opens tomorrow night at U.S. Cellular Field. The last time the Twins were in Chicago was April 9-11 when they won two of three in a series where each game was decided by a run.
The series was a precursor to a 2010 rivalry that’s being defined by a simple word to describe each game and also the division standings: Close.
At home in May the Twins lost to Chicago, 5-2, but won the next game 3-2. At Target Field last month the Twins lost 8-7 to the White Sox, then won games by scores of 7-4, 3-2 and 7-6. For the season that’s seven of nine games decided by one run.
By now even your stock broker gets the idea. The drama could continue during the three-game series in Chicago this week, then at Target Field August 17-19 and back at U.S. Cellular September 14-16.
The Twins are 17-7 since the All-Star break. That performance has been accomplished despite the absence of starters and major contributors Justin Morneau (last game July 7) and Orlando Hudson (returned yesterday after being out since July 24).
How have they done it? A favorable schedule against some softies, surprising contributions from subs, and, oh yes, at times pretty solid pitching. Reliable starting pitching and a quality bullpen win games. No headline making news with that item.
Pitching wins close games and division titles. (Past performance does indicate future results).
Worth Noting
Vice president of marketing Patrick Klinger said the Twins have sold out all but one home game this season. Ticket availability for games in August is “very limited” even with standing-room-only sales. “August is tough,” Klinger said. “Frankly a lot of families are trying to get in before the kids go back to school.”
Klinger said the Twins capped season tickets at about 25,000 but demand indicates the club could have sold a few thousand more. The decision to put a ceiling on 25,000 ensures that more customers who can’t afford season tickets will attend games, he said.
While hundreds of names are on a waiting list for future season tickets, Klinger said the club hasn’t decided to go beyond the 25,000 mark in 2011. It’s a decision that could be made in the next few weeks.
With a winning team and state-of-the-art Minneapolis ballpark, the Twins might be more popular than at any time in their 50 seasons history. Klinger said Friday that TV ratings on Fox Sports North are up 26.4 percent over last year.
Football conflict: the Vikings play Denver at home on Thursday, September 2 in a game televised locally on KARE 11. That same evening the Gophers will be on ESPNU in their nonconference opening game at Middle Tennessee State.
Presumably the Vikings will see rookie Denver quarterback Tim Tebow and former Gophers wide receiver Eric Decker. The Gophers will play a Middle Tennessee State team that won its bowl game last December against Southern Mississippi and has an athletic quarterback in Dwight Dasher, smaller but similar to Minnesota’s MarQueis Gray. The Blue Raiders are an early betting favorite in the game.
Vikings rookie running back Toby Gerhart comes from an athletic family. He has a brother who is an offensive lineman at Arizona State, and triplet sisters who are college softball players.
Notes Plus
Vikings coach Brad Childress talking about rookie quarterback Joe Webb and his early adjustment to the NFL: “He is about like most rookie quarterbacks, just kind of swimming in all of the verbiage. Some things he’s got cold but I think every situation is a new situation, whether it’s a short-yardage situation and the ball goes on the ground. He’s a talented enough kid physically. I would just like everything to straighten out in his brain and you know that is a process. You can want that to happen but quite frankly most first-year quarterbacks are just about right there.”
The Packers are outspoken in their optimism about a 2011 Super Bowl appearance. USA Today Sports Weekly reports in its August 4-10 issue that linebacker Nick Barnett plans to print T-Shirts with the slogan “Super Bowl or die.” Coach Mike McCarthy describes his group in the newspaper as a “mature football team that is ready to take the next step.”
The Gophers could have an emerging standout in redshirt freshman defensive end Ra’Shede Hageman who is 6-6, 294 pounds. Gophers coach Tim Brewster said Hageman has run a 4.7 40-yard dash.
Brewster also said former walk-on Mike Rallis, now a sophomore, has a “chance” to be one of the Big Ten’s best linebackers.
Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is the likely site for the Big Ten’s first football championship game in 2011 but no commitment has been made beyond next year. Minneapolis, if the city has a new Vikings stadium, is expected to receive consideration for future games.
The Gophers basketball team plays in the ESPN Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament in November. If Minnesota wins its opening game against Western Kentucky, and North Carolina is also a first round winner, the two teams will play each other for the first time since 1980.
The Wild were interested in adding depth to the center position with former North Star Mike Modano who signed with Detroit but will compensate with another veteran, new acquisition John Madden from the Blackhawks. Madden, 37, has long been considered one of the NHL’s better defensive forwards.
Brad Childress
Tim Brewster
