Game 129: Rangers at Twins

Time: 7:10 Central

Weather: Still pretty muggy, 83° at first pitch

Opponent’s SB site: Lone Star Ball

TV: BSN. Radio: Is there anybody alive out there

MLB team record for strikeouts: 1596. Twins’ current pace: 1667

Rangers starter Dane Dunning is having a fine season after two mediocre ones in Texas; his top pitching vitue is usually being 6'4". He throws a sinker, slider, cutter and change, none hard. Digits:

In 2020, Cleveland backup catcher Sandy León looked at a phone app that showed a live cam of his home, and saw the worst thing you could imagine; his daughter was dying. She'd fallen into a pool. His wife was screaming and trying to resuscitate their child.

The girl, amazingly, lived. What's more, she doesn't appear to have any permanent brain damage. The cam data indicated that she'd been in the pool, unresponsive, for 12 minutes. Under most circumstances, a person who doesn't breathe for more than four minutes is dead, or at best severely impaired for the rest of their life. Leon's daughter is, to this point, OK.

Last year, Leon wanted to celebrate his daughter’s survival by wearing jersey number 12 with the Twins. But a player already had that number. Who was it, you may ask?

Oh.

Kristie Rieken’s story doesn’t say whether León asked Pagán for the number or not. Let’s hope he didn’t, because he was too shy. That’s preferable to thinking Pagán was just a major giant jerk. In any case, León did get to wear the number with Texas this year; he’s currently not wearing it with the Columbus Clippers.

An amazing non-Texas story of family love and loss is this one by Alex Coffey. It’s about a Florida woman who, in 2010, lost her husband to a speeding driver. The driver, an 18-year-old just out of high school, wasn’t intoxicated, just in a hurry to go pick up his girlfriend. He was charged with manslaughter and faced a sentence of 5-7 years.

But the widow, against the wishes of her friends/family, decided to ask the judge for leniency. Later, she said “how much carnage do you want from one event? There’d been enough.” The judge granted her request, reducing the driver’s sentence to eight months, with five years probation.

In 2022, the widow had remarried and was living in South Dakota. She asked her husband to look up whatever happened to that young man who’d killed her husband. It turned out he was on the Phillies. And had gotten a save that very day.

So she started following Andrew Bellatti’s career, as the Phillies made it all the way to the World Series. And, this year, she met Bellatti, his wife, and their son.

Finally, far be it from me to give Netflix any more free advertising. But this trailer looks really good:

The film is by Jeff Malmberg, who directed Marwencol, and Morgan Neville, who directed Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Both of which are great films, and both of which were the inspiration for fictional versions. And in both cases, the original documentary is much better. Do yourselves a favor and watch them if you haven’t yet.

By the way, if anybody wants two free section 128 tickets for Sunday, email me via twinsbrewer@yahoo.com. I can't go because I busted up my damn fool arm. You could go with another TwinkieTowner if you like! Meet someone from the internet! That always goes well.