Break Time

Last year, the Twins needed a break badly. If the All-Star Break would have come any later, who knows what may have happened? This year, it's only a three game skid, but you get that same feeling of despair. Things were looking up with the three complete game shutouts, but these last three games have been real downers. Maybe it's just because Mientkiewicz has been out (who would have thought we'd ever use that as a reason this year?), but it's still rough. True, we get Stewart back after the All-Star Break, so there is hope. Hell, if we could win the division last year, it should be a piece of cake this time around. Nevertheless, things may get interesting.

I attended today's game, and I had fun even though there wasn't much to cheer about. I love watching Santana pitch, and aside from those first few innings, he was just as good as ever. Unfortunately, it was those first few innings that got him, but that's baseball. I waited outside the player's entrance after the game and had a great time yelling after all the players. Koskie was the only one who signed any autographs, but he skipped over me. Oh well. Like Charles Barkley says, "even if you sign autographs for half the people there, the other half will hate you." The mascot softball game was probably the highlight of the day though. Something about a shark and a bee in the most awkward play at the plate I've ever seen that was beautiful. I tried (emphasis on tried) to keep score of the mascot game, and I'll scan in my scorecard and post it sometime in the near future.

Also look for a few feature pieces over the All-Star Break, plus the typical thoughts on the game itself and the Home Run Derby. I love the All-Star festivities, almost more than playoff baseball. It's just so much fun to watch it all. I generally get pretty nerdy about baseball this time of year, which is always fun.