History Made at the Metrodome
As every Minnesotan knows, Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed the Twins Stadium bill tonight just before the Twins-Seattle game tonight. Watching the signing ceremony was more emotional than I'd expected, with Twins greats like Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew & Tony Oliva, the first group of Twins I fell in love with watching, along with Bert Blyleven, Dan Gladden, Kent Hrbek, Tim Laudner, 'Senior Smoke' Juan Berenguer & supersub Randy Bush there representing the 87 World Championsip team. Jack Morris & Kevin Tapani, key parts of the unforgettable 91 'Worst to First' World Champions (Who can forget Jack Morris' 10 inning, 7 hit shutout of the braves in what I still think is the hands-down best Game 7 in World Series history?) were on hand, too.
After Twins TV play-by-play man Dick Bremer introduced the former Twins on hand, he turned to the jumbotron to watch a "video recounted the days when the Twins played outdoors in Metropolitan Stadium and some of the famous moments in Metrodome history, including the Twins' World Series titles in 1987 and 1991."
Once the festivities concluded, few would've complained had the game not been that fun. fortunately Seattle's 20-year-old Felix Hernandez, nicknamed 'King Felix' by the Seattle sportswriters & the Twins' Francisco Liriano, who's got the nastiest slider in the bigs to go with a 97-99 mph fastball, put on a pitching display that was all it was hyped to be.
Hernandez retired the last 14 hitters he faced. Unfortunately for him, he made 2 mistakes in the first 3 innings. He threw a fastball that caught too much of the plate to Twins' DH Rondell White, who hit a screaming line drive down the third base line that Adrian Beltre couldn't corral. White wound up at 2nd, with Justin Morneau reaching third on the play. Tony Batista's singleto right plated Morneau, bringing up Twins shortstop Juan Castro, who hit into a double play, scoring White.
Hernandez threw another do nothing fastball down the heart of the plate to Joe Mauer in the third. Rod Carew says that Mauer's got the best-looking swing he's ever seen, which says everything I need to know. Anyways, Mauer crushed the pitch, hitting 427 feet over the fence in rightcenter field.
That was all the run support the Twins needed tonight. Liriano overpowered a number of Seattle hitters, finishing the night with his 5 innings with a line that read 4 hits 6 strikeouts & 1 walk.
After that, the Twins bullpen did a nice job, with Matt Guerrier giving up the lone Seattle run on ball that dropped between Justin Morneau & Luis Castillo on what should've been the third out. Guerrier struck 3 Seattle hitters out in his 2 innings of work, mostly with a nice curveball.
After that misplay, Guerrier got the next hitter for the third out. Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless eighth before handing the ball to Twins closer Joe Nathan for only his sixth save opportunity of the season. Nathan got 1 strikeout in pitching a pefect 9th for his sixth save of the season.
The highlight of the night, though, came in the fifth. Seattle loaded the bases with no outs. Liriano made some nasty pitches to strike Seattle shortstop Yuniewsky Betancourt out. Ichiro was the next hitter, which virtually eliminated any possibility of him bouncing into a double play. Liriano got ahead of him before he hit a sinking line drive to center. Torii was playing shallow for him & made a shoestring catch just before the ball would've hit the turf. Torii made a short throw back to second, completing the routine lineout-throwout inning-ending centerfielder to the shortstop double play. That's an 8-6 inning-ending double play for those keeping score at home.
The series resumes Saturday night, with Twins' rookie Boof Bonser facing ancient Seattle lefty Jamie Moyer before wrapping up with Twins' ace Johan Santana facing Seattle's Joel Pineiro.
Posted Saturday, May 27, 2006 1:30 AM
Comment 1 by samadamstoo at 27-May-06 09:04 AM
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 27-May-06 01:40 PM
Comment 3 by samadamstoo at 27-May-06 03:22 PM
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 27-May-06 04:19 PM
After Twins TV play-by-play man Dick Bremer introduced the former Twins on hand, he turned to the jumbotron to watch a "video recounted the days when the Twins played outdoors in Metropolitan Stadium and some of the famous moments in Metrodome history, including the Twins' World Series titles in 1987 and 1991."
Once the festivities concluded, few would've complained had the game not been that fun. fortunately Seattle's 20-year-old Felix Hernandez, nicknamed 'King Felix' by the Seattle sportswriters & the Twins' Francisco Liriano, who's got the nastiest slider in the bigs to go with a 97-99 mph fastball, put on a pitching display that was all it was hyped to be.
Hernandez retired the last 14 hitters he faced. Unfortunately for him, he made 2 mistakes in the first 3 innings. He threw a fastball that caught too much of the plate to Twins' DH Rondell White, who hit a screaming line drive down the third base line that Adrian Beltre couldn't corral. White wound up at 2nd, with Justin Morneau reaching third on the play. Tony Batista's singleto right plated Morneau, bringing up Twins shortstop Juan Castro, who hit into a double play, scoring White.
Hernandez threw another do nothing fastball down the heart of the plate to Joe Mauer in the third. Rod Carew says that Mauer's got the best-looking swing he's ever seen, which says everything I need to know. Anyways, Mauer crushed the pitch, hitting 427 feet over the fence in rightcenter field.
That was all the run support the Twins needed tonight. Liriano overpowered a number of Seattle hitters, finishing the night with his 5 innings with a line that read 4 hits 6 strikeouts & 1 walk.
After that, the Twins bullpen did a nice job, with Matt Guerrier giving up the lone Seattle run on ball that dropped between Justin Morneau & Luis Castillo on what should've been the third out. Guerrier struck 3 Seattle hitters out in his 2 innings of work, mostly with a nice curveball.
After that misplay, Guerrier got the next hitter for the third out. Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless eighth before handing the ball to Twins closer Joe Nathan for only his sixth save opportunity of the season. Nathan got 1 strikeout in pitching a pefect 9th for his sixth save of the season.
The highlight of the night, though, came in the fifth. Seattle loaded the bases with no outs. Liriano made some nasty pitches to strike Seattle shortstop Yuniewsky Betancourt out. Ichiro was the next hitter, which virtually eliminated any possibility of him bouncing into a double play. Liriano got ahead of him before he hit a sinking line drive to center. Torii was playing shallow for him & made a shoestring catch just before the ball would've hit the turf. Torii made a short throw back to second, completing the routine lineout-throwout inning-ending centerfielder to the shortstop double play. That's an 8-6 inning-ending double play for those keeping score at home.
The series resumes Saturday night, with Twins' rookie Boof Bonser facing ancient Seattle lefty Jamie Moyer before wrapping up with Twins' ace Johan Santana facing Seattle's Joel Pineiro.
Posted Saturday, May 27, 2006 1:30 AM
Comment 1 by samadamstoo at 27-May-06 09:04 AM
Recently, libelous statements were made at this blog against John Murtha, calling him a traitor and accusing him of lying. See:http://www.letfreedomringblog.com/2006/05/17/john-murtha-traitor/
Recent news has confirmed the truth of Murtha's statements. This is a man who has spent his life serving his country honorably as a Marine and as a public servant.
In making his statements, he was trying to uphold the true values of the Marines and of our Nation, something that appears to be foreign to many of the bloggers here.
No corrections or apologies have been made at this blog by the anonymous blogger who committed the libel.
This is the Memorial weekend. I suggest we remember the soldiers who have served our nation and reframe from agian visiting this unAmerican blog site.
Thank you.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 27-May-06 01:40 PM
Sam, Find the relevant article & post comments there.
Comment 3 by samadamstoo at 27-May-06 03:22 PM
http://www.letfreedomringblog.com/2006/05/17/john-murtha-traitor/
The link was posted above, but here it is again.
I'll not check this site again. This site does not represent American values.
Comment 4 by Gary Gross at 27-May-06 04:19 PM
This site does not represent American values.
Funny but I was thinking the same about Murtha.
