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- The Twins announced their opening day various plans and promotions for Opening Day. You’ve probably heard Justin Morneau is tossing the first pitch, and some guy I’ve never heard of (but the kids probably are totally into) is singing the National Anthem. More awesomely, WWII vet and centenarian Lawrence Cline will raise the flag. Mr. Cline sounds awesome, so hopefully he has the time of his life. The Twins will also be serving free breakfast before the game, if anyone wants to trek down 7th street for the finest Food Service Company specials.
- Reuben Walker, writing for the Hardball Times, looks at the history of German baseball, starting from the end of World War II, through the lens of Max Kepler, and then addresses how that history and strong competitive drive molded Kepler into the player he is today.
- MPR has the forecast for my favorite holiday (Opening Day, remember the theme.) Early results suggest... warm-ish. Temps in the 50’s is a fairly normal opening day for the Twins, as they run down the history. The average opening day in the Twin Cities has been 58 degrees during years the Twins played outdoors (since you know, the homer dome was climate controlled)
- If you want to know some bizarre facts about the various players you might see on Opening Day, FSN has you covered. Two players are rappers in their spare time (besides Joe Mauer,) and one of the players is a chicken farmer in the offseason. A couple others come from baseball families.
- While Opening Day for most of baseball isn’t for another eight days, real baseball actually started today. The Oakland As and the Seattle Mariners face each in Tokyo, at a terribly early hour, so the first game is already on and/or over by the time you read this. Ichiro fans, rejoice. The Japanese legend has returned to the diamond for this two-game set. Here are all the facts you need to know about the series.
- One person who will be a simple spectator for Opening Day this season is former manager Paul Molitor, who is enjoying his time off this winter, and recently made a spring break pilgrimage to Fort Myers with his twelve-year-old son. While the former skipper isn’t in a hurry to get back into the game, he also told Betsy Helfand that he probably isn’t done with baseball. It sounds like Thad Levine, Derek Falvey, and Rocco Baldelli are all receptive to bringing Molitor back into the organization, and that the Hall-of-Famer himself is open to the idea.
- Sticking with the Opening Day theme, here is a playlist of 32 songs that Mashable put together a few years back to celebrate the occasion. My playlist would look a little different, but I’m too lazy to make my own list.