Game 7: Cleveland at Twins

Time: 7:10 Central. Vegas Line: -110 CLE/MIN +100

Weather: Blue skies, no rain, first pitch 82°

Opponent’s SB site: click here

TV: FSN. Radio: Less creepy fake crowds than TV since 2020

Hello, fellow TTers! Ready to ignore the elephant in the room for a few hours? I sure am!

So, what do we know about Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger (besides the fact that he’s really good, does the whole fastball/change speed/fool guys thing that Shane Bieber did last night without the boy-band name).

Well, for one thing, he’s really into a certain personal style; as Michael Baumann put it at The Ringer, “‘he looks like the kind of person your mom would say is “a very nice boy” but also quietly disapprove of you dating.’” His hair ranges between Eddie Vedder and Princess Bride Mandy Patinkin; his custom-painted shoes (see above) have gotten him into trouble with MLB because, MLB.

I showed Mrs. James a photo of Clevinger with the hair/shoes and she asked, “is he a bit of a flower child?”

Well... his nickname is “Sunshine.” He loves quoting Dylan and Hendrix. One of his kids is named “Piper Lotus.” I’d say, if not a full flower child, certainly hippie-friendly. And for a guy who played with Trevor Bauer and managed not to strangle him, I’d say that’s the mark of a pretty good teammate/co-worker. Digits (2019 for Clevinger, super-low-MLB-sample-size for Dobstache):

Dobnak got married last year. Did you get him a gift? I, alas, did not, but their wedding site had a registry with gifts ranging from the pricey to quite affordable.

We talked about simulating ballpark food in isolation last week, and that might continue later. I’ve got some good food ideas, but the signature menu item for Cleveland’s stadium is “The Thomenator” and I don’t have the stomach for it right now. Comment thread regular Joefishy promised to bring enough virtual smoked salmon for everyone.

Finally, in honor of the Twins having, not one, but two Australian-born players, we’re going to briefly talk about Holden Cars. The Holden car company was an Australian automaker; it had been struggling for decades, and of late was basically a brand label for cars made by GM in Not Australia. This winter, GM announced the brand would finally die.

Why should you care? After all, car companies kill models and move production plants frequently. My Saint Paul library is on Ford Parkway, named after a notorious anti-Semite, even though the truck plant on that road has been gone for several years (and there’s a sizable Judaic community in this neighborhood — you can’t beat a true kosher deli for boss sandwiches).

You need to care because of this jingle:

It’s total 1970s, and very much like American ads in the 1970s (or Coors Beer ads in the 1990s). Trevor Bauer would probably love the imagery. But I guarantee you’ll never get that jingle outta your skull.

That’s my job, here — implant one horribly catchy promo song at a time into your heads. Don’t make me bring out the “OK, Blue Jays” song again, you’ve been warned.