Area Blogger, Sportswriter Respectfully Disagree About Mike Pelfrey

In an event that is being called "unparalleled" in modern local media history, a Twin Cities-based baseball blogger and a member of a local media disagreed on the Twins re-signing Mike Pelfrey to a 2-year, $11 million deal without resorting to vicious name-calling, ad hominem attacks and appeals to authority.

"I don't know, I just think it's a bad contract," said Roy Ziegler, 23, who runs the Twins Take And Bake blog out of his Fridley apartment . Ziegler did not go on to say that anyone who disagreed with him was brain damaged or carrying water for the Pohlad family. "Even if he returns to his pre-Tommy John form, how good is that, exactly? It ain't that good, I'm sorry." He did not add that Pelfrey was a flaming pile of medical waste that does funny things to animals. "He seems like a good guy, I hope I'm wrong."

"Honestly, I'm happy with the signing," said Trent L. Strauss, 34, who works in the sports department for the Rochester Post-Bulletin. Strauss went on to say that he could very well be wrong, instead of claiming his years of reporting and interacting with Twins players and coaches made his opinion the only one of any worth. "Free agent pitchers are a crapshoot. He could feel a pop in his shoulder on day one in Fort Myers and that's it. Now the deal's a bad one. You never know."

Strauss tweeted about the Pelfrey deal on Wednesday night, claiming it was "A net positive for the Twins, in my opinion." Ziegler responded that he "strongly disagree(d), and think it's a foolish signing." Strauss, instead of saying "OK" before retweeting Ziegler's response, asked him why he thought that. Ziegler, rather than describing Strauss' mother's sexual prowess with area homeless men, gave a multi-tweet response extrapolating on Pelfrey's statistics pre- and post-surgery. Strauss tweeted that "this was something to think about," and that he "appreciated the feedback." Ziegler thanked him for responding. There was no further interaction between the two, not even a reference to Adolf Hitler, the former leader of Germany's National Socialist Party, and how either man was exactly like Hitler, but worse.

The incident is believed to have been the first one of its kind "at least since Barry Zevan was still giving out the temperature in Bird Island," said a local media observer who asked to remain anonymous.

"The blogger could have easily called Strauss 'a lickspittle for the hometown 9' and Strauss could have just called him a 'nerdy mother's basement nerd,' igniting a Twitter flame war that could have lasted a good 45 minutes or so, distracting dozens of other people from their jobs and families" said the observer. "Instead, they both went on with their lives, as did everyone else. I've never seen anything quite like it."