Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Florida just keeps getting weirder and weirder

- Got to give Mitt Romney credit - he's in great shape for an older guy.

- I love this story about the Twins gift of peanut butter to David Ortiz.

- Another reason to be a coffee drinker

- Oh snap!

- It really is the NFL against the Patriots

The Twins and Motorboating

If a Minnesota Twins player picked Pontoon by Little Big Town (aka Motorboating) as their walk up music - they would immediately become my favorite player. Come on - the team is named THE TWINS!!

Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Holy crap - talk about wild weather

- How can you not root for a guy like Chris Colabello? And not just because he's a Worcester guy.

- Understanding Lars Anderson - a study in baseball make-up. Gabe Kapler is a pretty impressive writer.

- Ray Donovan executive producer tied to gambling ring / Russian mob

- Heh heh - Internet Explorer vs Murder Rates

- Sam Simon is dying but wants to make impact after he's dead

Michael Cimino as Zoilo Versailles

Not sure why but yesterday I was thinking about director Michael Cimino.

For those not familiar - Michael Cimino was a wonderkid director who was responsible for the multiple Academy Award winning The Deer Hunter who then directed the megabust Heaven's Gate which some people blame for taking down United Artists as a business. After Heaven's Gate Cimino did a couple more movies but then just pretty much faded into oblivion.

I started wondering if Michael Cimino was sports personality - who would he be? After doing some research I decided upon Zoilo Versailles.

Versailles was the AL MVP in 1965 playing shortstop for the Minnesota Twins at age 25. That season he led the AL in runs, doubles, triples and total bases. For the MVP award he beat out among others his teammates Tony Oliva and Harmon Killibrew as well as superstars like Brooks Robinson and Carl Yastrzemski. After that MVP season Versailles played a couple more subpar seasons but then just pretty much faded into oblivion.

Thinking of Cimino got me thinking about his masterpiece The Deer Hunter. This may be heresy but in my opinion Heaven Can Wait and Foul Play may actually be better movies from 1979 than The Deer Hunter. I know that I watch those two moves more often.

I'm not suggesting that The Deer Hunter or Zoilo Versailles' 1965 season weren't great but I will say that if you took Robert DeNiro and the cast from The Deer Hunter and had them in another drama instead of The Deer Hunter then chances are that other drama would have been equally good due to the talent involved. Likewise, could Versailles have led the league in runs if he didn't have Oliva and Killibrew hitting behind him? If Oliva and Killibrew had a different lead-off hitter chances are that guy would have scored 100 times.

Versailles was the near unanimous choice for AL MVP getting 19 out of 20 first place votes but if that MVP vote was taken today I'm guessing that Versailles may still win but it would be by a slim margin. Same is true with The Deer Hunter. If the Academy Award for 1979 was given out today - chances are The Deer Hunter still wins for Best Picture but do you think Michael Cimino still wins for Best Director?

The Trades You Don't Make

"Johan Santana to the Red Sox is all but done. Jon Lester, a center fielder, Justin Masterson and Ryan Kalish are the package." Will Carroll 12/5/07

Chances are Will Carroll was just full of crap and the above deal was some GM just feeding him a jape. Carroll blocked me on Twitter cause I called him on his crap once. But the journalistic ethics of Will Carroll are not why I dredged up this old chestnut. The reason I brought this up is to praise Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox.

Can you imagine how the Twins would be doing if the above trade was actually made? Jon Lester is 6-1 with a 3.68 ERA while Justin Masterson is 5-2 with a 2.50 ERA. Those 11 combined wins are almost as many as the Twins have managed all season (15). The centerfielder mentioned would have been either Coco Crisp or Jacoby Ellsbury.

In actuality Johan Santana was traded by the Twins to the Mets for Deolis Guerra, Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey. Quite a big difference isn't it?

Three years later the only GM in this deal who looks good is Theo Epstein. For the deal he never made - or possible never even discussed.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

This week some journalist will drive the Boston Marathon route from Hopkington to Boston and they will not be able to beat Kenyan racer Geoffry Mutai's time. That will make a nice story for out of towners but locals know that's just the way the traffic works... President George W. Bush to host 100 km bike ride with wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans... The only excuse I can think of for Mike Leake was if he was rookie hazed into stealing ala Animal House Food King run... I saw that Gary Glitter was trending on Twitter and I really hoped it was because he was dead... This Jim Thome video promotional video for the Twins is awesome... There should be a word for when a guy wades into the ocean and the waves break over his groin and he finally feels OK to dive in. We all know that feeling but there is no word for it... Some of these ideas are pretty nifty... I agree that the trip on the screen by Garnett was the key to Ray Allen hitting game winning 3-pointer. As a Celtics fan though you felt they were going to win no matter what. Even if they lost you had the feeling they would still win the series. I imagine that Knick fans were feeling just the opposite. I also have to think Knick fans are thinking, "We traded away half the team for that?"... These were pretty amusing... Next week is bad for me. Jonas Brothers are in town.

The Metrodome

I had a chance to visit the Metrodome on Sunday to see the Twins play the White Sox. I had a great time. I was really struck by the difference between going to a big market stadium (like Fenway Park) versus the small market experience of going to the Metrodome (no offense).

It started with the parking. I paid just $5 for parking just a couple of blocks away from the Metrodome. Then just out front of the stadium a scalper (probably the wrong term but I'll get to that in a minute) approached me asking if I needed a ticket. I said yes but I misheard him. I though he said "I have a good seat for $131." "I'm not paying that much for a ticket." "Whoa - don't speed away. How about the ticket for $20." It was then that I realized that he wasn't saying "$131" but actually "one for $31." I bought the ticket for $20 (less than face value so it wasn't scalping - more like discount retailing). The seat was 10 rows off the field down the third base line. I had almost the same seat at Fenway earlier this year and that ticket cost me $180.

Nice is the best word to describe the crowd and the people in general at the game. Very respectful. There was one thing I found amusing and wanted to comment on. During the singing of the National Anthem you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was standing still, all hats removed and many with hand over heart. However, at the Metrodome the American flag is in centerfield while the Canadian flag is behind home plate. Pretty much everyone in the stadium was facing towards home to watch Miss Minnesota sing the anthem. They were supposed to be facing the American flag. Instead they were, in a manner of speaking, paying homage to the Canadian flag instead. I found that amusing.

At Fenway Park - the game is the thing. Nothing extra. At the Metrodome there was all sorts of extras. Shooting T-shirts into the stands, a between innings pop fly challenge, a Blue Bunny (ice cream) promotion, etc. It was like being at a AAA game (no offense).

The Brats and beer were great but one thing that has to be noted was the trough-style urinals in the men's room. Stainless steel troughs. Augusta National is the only other major sporting venue that I can think of that still uses trough urinals. I wonder if trough-style will be used at the new stadium downtown?

One final note. About 80% of the shirts people were wearing at the game had Mauer or Morneau written on the back. There is no way that the Twins will allow either player to walk as a free-agent. No way.

Twins - (Devil) Rays Trade

Nobody breaks down the Twins like Aaron Gleeman. He looks at the 6-player trade that was centered around pitcher Matt Garza going to the Rays for Delmon Young. Gleeman sees this as a long-term win (and maybe even short-term) for Tampa Bay and I agree. My first reaction to the trade was to wonder when Jim Bowden became GM for the Twins because this is the sort of the trade he'd make. After thinking about it for a while I have to wonder who the Twins will use as starting pitchers next year. I also think Tampa Bay is quietly putting together a pretty good young team. The Rays will have as good a front three in their rotation as anyone in baseball with Scott Kazmir, Jamie Shields and now Matt Garza.