Well, I just found my way over here from TwinkieTown where I have been a reader and writer for years. I am as big of a puck fan as I am hardball, so lets get this going.<p>

I am pleased to see that the Wild picked up Bergeron for one reason, he supplies a heavy shot. Besides that, his salary is low, and it won't impact the cap very much. The undersized, horrible Plus/Minus rating does scare me. The wild had a puck moving small d-man for the PP last year in Nummelin, but he barely saw the ice to be a PP specialist.<p>

Pros and Cons are nothing without seeing how he gels with the squad. But the idea of having a Hard shooting lefty on the blue line, potentially paired with Burns or Schultz, is desirable. Afterall, if he is paired with one of them, his Plus/Minus should get better...however, if he is paired with Marty "Old Skool-aah" we could be scared.<p>

Thanks for having me Hockey Wilderness, don't be suprised if you see some more posts from me.

Well, here I go.

I hate to say it, but I am advocating for more stats to be kept. The statistics that are being spoken of nowdays are, well, in my opinion kinda silly. Those who have been Twinkie Towners for a while already know that this is one of my beefs. But, to the surprise of many, and the pain of myself, here I am...humbly asking for forgiveness. I ask the TT blog-o-sphere to accept my "funky stat" ripping apology, as I request...give me a moment, this is hard for me...more stats to be kept, and reported. I would like to suggest, for the first time publicly...the keeping of WU-Stats.

Last night we found out about players OPS, their OBP and in some cases their VORP and RZR. But ladies and gentlemen of TT, what of their ODB? What about their RZA, their GZA and their GFK(ghostface killah)'? What of an outfielders MTHDMAN and how many infielders RAEKWON's can we see before calling for their jersey to be stripped off their backs? And of course, I plead with you, if we have to see another J.Mo ID (Inspectah Deck) on a fastball down the middle of the plate, I just may scream.

Some examples from last night:

-Alexi Casilla raised his GFK nearly 30 points with his 3 run homer

-Howie Clark earned an ODB for the game winner in the eyes of the rangers fans

-The aforementioned ID by Morneau in extra innings, as he inspected the ball into the catcher's mitt

-Mauer currently sits at a 2.35 RZA and a 6.78 GZA for clutch hitting and freestyle beat-boxing

-Michael Cuddyer has a 2.34 MTHDMAN in Right Field, but a pathetic 0.34 in Center

And while this didn't happen last night, I just have to mention that Ron Gardenhire likes the heck out of that Nick Punto. Some think it is because Gardy sees himself in Punto, others think it is because of Gardy's insanity. Not So! Turns out, it is because of Nicky Punto's incredibly low RAEKWON.

So again, TT community, please forgive my previous stat hating. I am now a believer after watching last night's game, and because of the amazing analysis we as a community can do thanks to the Wu-Tang Clan.

Here I am, on your site for the first time in a long time, and you arent even gonna be in my basement to watch the Wild playoffs!!

I dont care if you "live in England" now, get your butt back here...playoffs man! And during the intermission, we can watch the twins.

Do the old days mean nothing to you?  :)

Hope all is well in England, and I hope all is well with the rest of your lives Twinkie-Towners.

There is a rumor that Crazy Terry has hired a new star used car salesman named "Wacky Bill," but as of yet, I havent been able to find documentation on this.

A friend of mine just sent me this link...

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2007/08/offerman_goes_o.html

I will say little besides...umm...damn.

I am curious to hear your collective comments.

Talk about something you don't see every day.

Well, what can we say? The twins have finally proven, over the last two weeks, that they will be battling for a winning record, and nothing more. With that, here are some things I would like to see, for the remainder of the year:

1. Finish above .500: This would make me feel that everything finished where it should.
2. The reappearance of 2k6 J.Mo: I hope that Justin can find his stroke and calms down. We need to see that same willingness to punch the ball over the SS head again. Have you seen his shift lately? It is like he is Jim Thome. Lots of justin's success last year came about from his serving balls the other way for singles and doubles.
3. DFA Rondizzle: Thank you Rondell, thank you for your effort. But you just are a shell of the amazing hitter you were in the early 2000's.
4. Give Kubel AB's: I am not a Kubel backer...but in his defense, it is hard to really criticize a guy who maybe sees the field 3-4 times per 7 games. Was he an amazing hitter in the minors cause he was hitting minor league pitching, or does he just need to have consistent AB's to acclimate him to the bigs?
5. Hit J. Mau leadoff: Give it a shot, maybe not every day, but try it...see if he likes it. If nothing else, we know Joe will make the pitcher throw at least 5 pitches right out of the gate.
6. Bring up the kids: Let the kids play in september, and maybe before. Couldn't hurt at this point.
7. Mentally sound play: After the Punto bunt demonstration, Mauer making the 3rd out at 3rd base, and numerous other mental mistakes the past few weeks...I would be content to see the twins get beat, as opposed to beat themselves.
8. Get out in a productive manner: I am not saying that I could do this...but I also don't get paid to play ball. I feel, strongly might I add, that a pro hitter should be able to get out in the way his team wants him to 65-70% of the time...if not more. It has been very frustrating watching a lead-off double not get moved to 3rd on a ground ball to the right side, for example.
9. No more calling for Gardy's job: I laugh at how a manager leads his team to the playoffs 4 of 6 years he has been a manager, and nobody wants to give him credit. Yet, when the team misses the playoffs 2 of those 6 years, he is horse-shit. Ya cant have it both ways.
10. See the guys have fun again: They all look like their dogs have been (allegedly) taken by Michael Vick. It would be nice to watch the games, and see some happiness in the guys I choose to root for. Do they represent me as a person? No. Do I lose sleep when they lose? No. But since I do invest time and energy into the ball-club, It would be nice to see them enjoying themselves for the remainder of this year.

...Cause Crazy Terry has you covered with an amazing late season warranty program, that will knock your socks off!

Getting sick of No offense?? Crazy Terry suggests the "golf score" warranty. Just imagine the twins as a golfer, and those low scores will make everything better!

Feeling bad for the pitchers? Then check out our "poor hitters" warranty. This one is great with the ladies; it allows you to feel just how bad the hitters do when they continue to get shutout week after week. The ladies do love a sensitive man.

Finally, getting sick of the inconsistency? Well hell, Crazy Terry suggests you try the "pay attention" warranty. How could you possibly argue that the Twins are inconsistent? They show up to work each day, they use the same gloves, same bats, they only get 3 outs per inning and they always "play their tails off"...you don't get more consistency than that!

So, come on down to Crazy Terry's...where we will never surprise you with anything...ever!

In the strib...

http://www.startribune.com/blogs/christensen/?p=278

Christensen  writes the following...

"Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and bench coach Steve Liddle are huddled in GM Terry Ryan's office, a few minutes from the non-waiver trade deadline. We have no word of any moves yet, but that could be a sign that the Twins are weighing something very seriously."

it is now time to play..."What are they doing?"

Here is mine...

TR: "well, nothing was right at the time...and afterall guys...we have cuddy coming back, and rondizzle...etc etc"

Your turn community....go!

You! Yes you!!!

C'mon down to CRAZY TERRY'S discount emporium!!!

We got retreads, rejects, some sure-fire winners and LOTS of sub-par players for your perusal!!!

No suggestion is too outrageous, cause you are dealin' with CRAZY TERRY!!!

We will accept any trade which provides us with young, unproven talent!

Sale ends July 31st, so come down quick and make a steal!!!

While I was enjoying the dick/bert show last night, oh, and there was a baseball game in the background too, I overheard something which blew my mind. I didn't believe it, so I did a whopping 12 seconds of research to authenticate their claim.

Jason Bartlett has committed 16 errors this year. The twins, as many of you probably know, have 43 errors on the year. This works out to Bartlett having 37.2% of the errors on the year...not exactly what I would consider to be a sparkling statistic. And it gets more ugly, of the 93 games the twins have played this year, Bartlett has only played in 83. So, Bartlett is committing roughly one error every 5 games he plays. Only Betancourt of the Mariners, and Guillen of the tigers have more errors on the year than Bartlett, with Tony Pena Jr. and Hanley Ramirez tying Jason for 3rd worst in the league.

Now maybe this jumps out today because of the fact that the error committed scored, which, really, isn't Jason's fault. And naturally your 2nd basemen and shortstops are going to get the most opportunities to commit errors, but 16 seemed like a lot. And when the number 16 is out of 43...it seems like a lot more.

Hopefully Jason can tidy up the glove a bit, take some more practice, or, just watch the ball into the glove a bit more. The club needs to be spotless, then get some help in order to make a run at the playoffs. I hope that the defensive issues of Jason can right them self, because, while it is fun to lead the league in a category at the end of the year, I don't think anyone wants to lead it in errors.

...most pointless thing I have read in quite sometime. I feel stupid for even reading this, but, it is worth reading, if not to shake your head and say "what?"

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_6353344?nclick_check=1

Please note in the sub heading, it says "Ryan won't name names, but we will." Maybe I am dumb, but I don't see any of these proposed names.

Just a reminder dear TT'ers, that many of you could easily write for a paper...as your content is MUCH more sound and logical.