Because of the Friends finale and the extra television programming dedicated to it, today's entry will again be rather shortened. I want to again encourage those who haven't e-mailed regarding the Demographic Test, please do so. The Prospect statistics have been updated through Thursday's games.
Friends Trivia – baseball people love small, minute details. So, here is just a bit of Friends trivia for you. What was the last word uttered on the final Friends, and who said it?
QUICK DEMOGRAPHICS TEST - I
am very much interested in finding out about who reads this website.
I would appreciate it if you took just 1 minute out of your day to
click here and e-mail me where you are from and your age and how
often you read this website. I appreciate your help!
After Carlos Silva improved to 5-0 on the season Wednesday night, the Twins and Mariners played again last night for the series win. Brad Radke would face Freddy Garcia. Both pitchers really did well. Radke gave up one run in 6 innings, and Garcia gave up one run in 7 innings. Juan Rincon gave up a run in 2/3 of an inning, and then Terry Mulholland went the last 1 1/3 innings. The Mariners bullpen, namely Mike Myers and Julio Mateo pitched well. Then Eddie Guardado came in and finished off the game, notching a save and the series win for the Mariners.
One question I have is this... Why isn't Michael Cuddyer playing more? Someone needs to answer that one for me. When he plays, he hits and has shown great power. Ron Gardenhire promised him playing time this season, and he just isn't getting it consistently. You may ask, "Well, where will you play him?" And I will answer this way, "SECOND BASE!" There should be certain givens in the Twins lineup. Shannon Stewart, Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones in the OF. Lew Ford at DH or in the OF. Corey Koskie and Doug Mientkiewicz. Those guys all have to be in the lineup. I don't think that Cuddyer should play SS, but he has played some second base. Is he a great defensive second baseman. We don't know. Whether he has looked good or not, he has not played there enough to determine. All I know is that he can't be much worse than Luis Rivas, and if that's the case, he's a far better offensive option.
Yesterday, the Twins Geek discussed Twins returning to the roster. Rick Helling could be around next week. Grant Balfour could be within a week or two. Matthew Lecroy will probably be around early next week. And, Joe Mauer will be after that.
My opinion is that when Helling comes back, Greisinger should be sent down. When Balfour comes off the DL, he has to be on the roster, and unfortunately, that will probably cost Joe Roa his job. Even though Roa has actually been very solid. Balfour could just be a dominant reliever! When Lecroy comes back, Rob Bowen should be sent down. Then when Joe Mauer comes back, I think that Michael Ryan will be sent down.
Just my opinions though. What do you think?
Tonight the Twins start at three game series in Oakland. It will be a tough series against a very good Oakland team. Here are the matchups:
1B: Doug Mientkiewicz versus Scott Hatteberg - Big Edge Twins
2B: Luis Rivas versus Marco Scutaro - Slight Edge A's
3B: Corey Koskie versus Eric Chavez - Two of the best, but slight edge to the A's
SS: Cristian Guzman versus Bobby Crosby - Even
LF: Shannon Stewart versus Eric Byrnes/Bobby Kielty - Big Edge Twins
CF: Torii Hunter versus Mark Kotsay - Even
RF: Jacque Jones versus Jermaine Dye - Even
C: Henry Blanco versus Damien Miller - Slight Edge A's
Friday (9:05) Starters: Johan Santana versus Mark Redman - Edge Twins
Saturday (4:05) Starters: Seth Greisinger versus Tim Hudson - Are you kidding? I can't even put into words how big the advantage is for the A's!
Sunday (4:05) Starters: Kyle Lohse versus Mark Mulder - Not quite as bad as Saturday's starters, but still a big edge to the A's.
So, how will the Twins do? They have usually done rather well against Hudson, but I worry about Sunday's pitching matchup. It should be a good, competitive series. By my unofficial count, the Twins have 2 Big Edges and 1 slight edges. The A's have 2 Big Edges and 3 slight edges. I counted three matchups as even. So, by that, the A's have an advantage. What does this all mean? Nothing! Pitching wins, right? So, if we look at the pitching matchups, the Twins have the edge Friday night, but the A's have big edges Saturday and Sunday. So what does that mean? Absolutely nothing! And, that's what I love about baseball... you just don't know. They have to play the games!
Any thoughts? E-mail me.
First things first, to those of you who tried to call me last night following the Friends finale, I apologize and will get back to you shortly. However, I just wasn't taking any phone calls. Actually, the truth is that I left my apartment and didn't bring my phone. I just drove around town for 15-20 minutes.
I admit it! I was a mess!! (Oh, and then to make it worse... did you watch ER???? How emotionally draining was that?!?!?)
I have read online and seen things on TV that there were groups and gatherings of people who would be watching the Friends finale. I could not do that. I totally had to watch it all by myself. I couldn't stand other people talking, or worrying about people seeing my reactions, or checking other people's reactions. No, that was something I had to do alone!
What a great and perfect finale. Loose ends were tied up and things from the history of the show were all put into the show. Gunther finally telling Rachel he loved her! Chick Jr. and Duck Jr. reminded us of the old days. The sanctity of the foosball table was shown in the final words Joey and Chandler said to it... and then destroyed in a terrifying way by Monica. Monica and Chandler had their baby... ok, babies! Everything that should have happened, did happen. Including, obviously, the thing I (and surely many others) wanted to see. Ross and Rachel... together again!! Tears a--flowin'!!
The show was absolutely hilarious. Each character's personality and characteristics were brought into this episode. Yet, there was also so much emotion. From the babies, to Ross and Rachel's interaction But, the part that was the toughest, for me, was the last scene, in the empty apartment. Monica said she needed to leave her key to the apartment thee. She put her key on the table. Then Chandler did. And then each of the six Friends took a key out of their pocket and put a key on the table. That was deep! That was very powerful. Really, that says everything that you need to know about the show. That, to me, is what it was all about. Six friend who came and went as they wanted, who just spent time together and, as The Rembrandts song suggests, they were always there for each other.
Instead of putting the keys down, I so wanted one of them to make some comment like... hey, you thought our show was done, but we have one surprise twist at the end of this show. We will come back for another season!! Unfortunately, that didn't happen!
Each week, the cast of Friends was there for us. They made us laugh. They made us, umm... emotional. They made us think. They made us all wish that we could be like them. That we had a group of friends who could just hang out together at a coffee shop and just be happy and content being with each other. They all were different, they all grew, but they all remained true to themselves and to each other. And we got to watch!
And, the arguably the most important thing we learned last night... 32C. That is something I'm sure everyone in this country wanted to know!!!
What? Am I wrong?
Courtney-Cox Arquette is having a baby. Jennifer Aniston will be a movie star and starting a family. Lisa Kudrow is an incredible actress and will surely move on to bigger and, ok bigger things. Matthew Perry is very good, very funny, and I hope that his life stays on the straight and narrow, and that he realizes just how good he is. David Schwimmer has a family and will be doing some directing. And Matt LeBlanc, well, he's going to be the lead actor on the Friends spinoff, Joey. On the show, Joey moves out to Hollywood with his sister. They showed a couple of previews of the show last night, and it looks hilarious! I am very excited to see that show. Especially since The Sopranos' Drea de Matteo will be on it! NICE! The writers will be the same, which should really help the show succeed!
So, I know I wasn't the only person who watched the Friends finale last night!!! So, please, e-mail me your thoughts on the final episode.
OK,
I meant to write about this yesterday,
but again, I fell asleep! Oops! Anyway, it was an excellent episode!
Ding Dong, the witch is... gone. Or is she? Trish was the one
who did not receive a rose. However, from the previews, she will be
making a comeback next week. She is a terrible person, and nowhere
near as attractive as she seems to think she is. I'm almost
surprised that Jesse Palmer didn't keep her around one more
week. Why? Because next week, he has three intimate, over-night
dates. I figured he would take advantage of such a situation. But, I
guess not.
As you've noticed the last couple of weeks, Tara is my favorite. I also liked Mandy Jaye. However, Wednesday night was the first time I really noticed Jessica! When did she get hot? We (as in me) really, really like her too. So, in order, my favorites are: Tara, Jessica, Mandy.
What were your thoughts? E-mail me.
That is it for today, and likely for the week, although if I don't travel this weekend, I will update the site from time to time.. I hope all is well! If you have any questions or comments on anything you see above, or anything at all, please feel free to e-mail me.
Have yourself a wonderful weekend!!