Tuesday
May 18, 2004
A TRIP TO
SAFECO
TWINS TOP JAYS
TWINS MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
WOLVES
THOUGHTS
MOVIE
REVIEWS
SAFECO, RESULTS AND
REVIEWS
I am working on an exciting entry for tomorrow, so be
sure to stop back. As promised yesterday, today you will find
reviews for 5 movies I watched over the weekend. We've got the
thoughts of a reader on Seattle's Safeco Field. The Twins win again,
and all four Twins minor league affiliates were in action. So again,
be sure to stop by tomorrow for a surprise I am excited about...
along with American Idol
thoughts. Have a great Tuesday!
40 GRAND
Good Morning! I just again wanted to thank all of the
readers who come to this site daily. I have now gone over 40,000
hits in just about a year. That just sounds like a big number.
Thanks also to all of the other writers and bloggers who help out so
much. Just, thank you to everyone. I hope you keep stopping by. I
hope I make it worth it for you to stop by! I hope you'll all tell
lots of people, everyone in your Address Book about this site!! Ha!
A TRIP TO SAFECO
The Twins played in Seattle last week. One of the
readers of this site, John Landas of Madison, WI, went there and
e-mailed me some notes from the trip and the game. I hope you enjoy.
Let me know if you have any questions for me or for John. I will be
sure to forward them to him. So,
e-mail me.
Due to the fact that I am just
getting home now from my trip to Seattle and then the subsequent
7 day Alaskan cruise, my ramblings on the Twins-Mariners game of
Thursday the 6th is way old news.
Safeco rocks! The fact that they
have it right across the street from the brand new "Seahawk
Stadium" really hurts as there sit two brand new stadiums and
the Twin Cities can get one! Safeco paid $2 million up front and
a million per year for the naming rights. Sounds cheap to me.
Can't believe they call the football stadium "Seahawk Stadium."
Living in Madison, I have been to Miller a lot. It doesn't hold
a candle to Safeco. Miller is not very open even when the roof
is open. That is just it, Miller has a roof. Safeco has more of
an "Umbrella" as they tout it. Much more open feeling. Out in
left at the top of the seats it is open. When the umbrella
closes, the legs or supports come with it. At Miller the four
walls are always there and the roof closes. Seattle did it
right.
For $6 I took what ended up to be a 2 hour tour. Took us down to
the field to the visitor's dugout. They were shooting a Pepsi
commercial with Bret Boone at home plate as we all sat in the
dugout. The Yankees were pulling in as we were there on the 7th.
Got a film canister full of grass and warning track dirt. I have
the same from Fenway and Yankee Stadiums.
We then went to the press room and press box and owner's suite
and through the bowels of the stadium. It was way cool. They
have coils with warm water going through them under the grass to
keep it warm year round. Sun actually hits all areas of grass
unlike Miller where they have to put sod in deep center cuz sun
never hits it. Trains go by in right field and actually add to
the atmosphere. Bald eagles soar over head. Great total ballpark
experience. Good hot dogs. Nachos were so so. Pepsi products :-(
Ushers actually held signs not letting people wander back to
their seats in the middle of an inning. That always ticks me off
when meatheads that come barging in and out right in the middle
of a batter.
Radke looked great that night. Was surprised to see Rincon
replace him in the 7th. That turned out to be a bad move. Got to
the park an hour before they'd let you in, but you can watch the
pitchers in the bullpens from the street as the bullys are in
the outfield raised up so that was cool. Hung around the Twins
dug out before the game. Talked to Newmie and Gladden and John
Gordon. My best friend graduated from Gustavus with John
Gordon's son. His real last name is Gutowsky. Holy cow is Lew
Ford tiny. Jacque is too. Lohse looks like he is 15.
All the players were very cordial and signed autographs. The
lineup that night wasn't a bad one. Offerman played 1st. Stunk
at the plate. Lew played center. Bowen caught. Rivas had a great
game in the field.
When Eddie came in in the 9th you could hear crickets chirp. No
EDDIE EDDIE chant at all. Gardy threw BP. Sorry for the
ramblings. All in all it was a great time at Safeco. Twins need
to take notes from the way Seattle did it.
I don't know about ya'll, but I enjoy the ramblings.
I don't know if John missed anything. So, I wrote him to thank him
for the notes and asked if I could post them.
I know my style here is all over the
board. Just random ramblings. I have more ramblings I wanted to
share. There is a yellow line painted on the floor on the
concourse above the lower level seats. Anyone with a ticket
anywhere in the stadium can stand behind that line and basically
have one of the best views in the house. They actually encourage
people to do it. You can be in line at the hot dog stand and see
the game completely. Also, the seats down the lines are angled
toward the plate. Now there is a concept. we sat in section 125
which looked right down the 3rd base line. All kinds of leg room
and a cup holder. I am 6'4" and had plenty of room. The home
clubhouse goes from home plate all the way to the foul pole in
right under the lower level seats. The visitor's club house is
nicer than most ballpark's home clubhouses. $5.75 for a "Major"
hot dog. It was a 2 pounder. Not many characters like Wally the
Beer Man roaming the stands. That is one thing the dome does
have. I liked the hand operated scoreboard built into the left
field wall that showed all the scores around the majors.
Instead of a tire race (dome) or sausage race (miller) they had
a jet boat race. Nice to know they are cheesy there too. The
fans yelled the loudest of the entire night. Interesting thing,
they came out between each inning and groomed the infield with
rakes. Not only to replace bases like at most parks but each
inning and then in the 6th they dragged the whole infield with
screens. Of course when the all-star ballots came around, I had
to write in Lew Ford. KSTP eyewitness news channel 5 was there
and I was on camera chatting with the fellas before the game.
Not sure if the footage was used on the 10 o'clock news that
night or not. Nice people in Seattle. Got some friendly jabs
about my 1987 twins blue jersey but I wasn't afraid for my life
like I was in 2000 while at Yankee Stadium. All around great
trip. Sorry to ramble but I knew you'd appreciate some of the
little minutia about the park like us true fans notice.
I definitely appreciate it, and I'm guessing a lot of
the readers do too. So, thank you John, for taking the time to
update us on Safeco!
________________________________________________________________________________________________
TWINS TOP BLUE JAYS
TWINS at BLUE JAYS
Last night, the Twins started their three game series
with the Blue Jays up in Toronto with a 9-5 win. The team that used
to always struggle so much for home run power came up with three two
run homers on the way to the win. With the scored tied at 1-1 in the
4th, Lew Ford hit a two run homer to give the Twins a 3-1
lead. The Jays had cut the lead to 3-2 when Torii Hunter hit
a two-run homer to increase the lead to 5-2.
Brad Radke pitched well for 6 innings, but
gave up some tough hits and didn't get much bullpen support as the
Blue Jays tied the game at 5 a piece. Former Twins pitcher
Michael Nakamura pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning for the Jays. "The
Vulture" Juan Rincon came in for the 8th inning. In the top
of the 9th, the Twins busted out on Nakamura.
Torii Hunter doubled. Jacque Jones came
up to the plate. Now, I'm as big as anyone on the small-ball
philosophies, but I was thinking that would not have been a good
time for the Twins to sacrifice Jones. My thinking was that, his job
is to get Hunter to 3B. With Nakamura throwing (he doesn't throw
hard), it was likely that Jones would at least be able to pull the
ball, advancing Hunter. But there is also the chance of a base hit
to score him. Jones knocked a LONG home run well into the right
field bleachers to give the Twins a 7-5 lead. Michael Ryan
later pinch hit for Shannon Stewart (who is struggling with a
case of plantar fasciatis, something Minnesota sports fans have
learned a lot about in the last year with Wally Szczerbiak,
Jim Kleinsasser and Randy Moss all being affected by
it) and doubled in Michael Cuddyer.
The Twins Geek
just recently wrote an article on when Al Newman should send
runners home. Well, this was certainly a case of that. Had catcher
Kevin Cash simply caught the ball, he would have easily
tagged Cuddyer out to end the inning. But the ball eluded him and
Cuddyer scored. Ryan got to 3B and scored when Orlando Hudson
was unable to throw Cristian Guzman out at 1B on an bouncer
up the middle. Juan Rincon walked the two of the first three
batters before striking out Vernon Wells. Aaron Fultz
was then brought in and got Carlos Delgado to ground out to
2B for a one-pitch save.
Here are the
remaining pitching matchups (record, ERA, WHIP, opponent's BA):
Tuesday - 6:05 - Johan Santana (2-0, 4.47, 1.32, .271) vs.
Miguel Batista
(1-3, 5.26, 1.41, .266)
Wednesday - 11:35 -
Kyle Lohse (1-3, 5.93, 1.84, .313) vs. Justin Miller
(1-0, 3.38, 1.33, .273)
Any thoughts on the Twins?
E-mail me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
TWINS MINOR LEAGUE REPORTS
ROCHESTER REDWINGS
Monday night - Redwings 0, Norfolk 3 -
Tyler Yates started the season in the New York Mets starting
rotation. He was sent down to AAA last week. He made his first start
for Norfolk last night against the Redwings and it was very
successful. Terry Tiffee was 2-4 with two doubles. Justin
Morneau was 1-3 with a walk. Those were the only hits that
Rochester could muster. Matt Guerrier started for the
Redwings. He went 6 2/3 innings and gave up three runs, none of
which were earned.
Today, the Redwings will send David Gassner to
the mound against another former Mets pitcher who will probably soon
be a fixture in their starting rotation, Aaron Heilman. Many
Twins fans may remember Heilman as a former draft pick of the Twins
who refused to sign with the team.
NEW BRITAIN ROCK CATS
Monday - Rockcats 9, Portland 2 - The Rockcats
finally got a good start from Boof Bonser. The righty went 7
innings for his first win of the season. He gave up 5 hits and 3
walks, and struck out 5 hitters. CF James Tomlin was the only
player with two hits for New Britain. He was 2-4 with a double and 2
RBI. 2B Luis Maza hit his 3rd homer of the year.
FORT MYERS MIRACLE
Game 1 - Miracle 10, Dunedin 7 - Francisco
Liriano started and went just 2 1/3 innings and gave up 8 hits
and 4 walks for 5 earned runs. Fortunately the offense picked up the
slack. CF Trent Oeltjen went 4-5 with a triple and 2 RBI. C
Jose Morales went 2-4. 1B Danny Matienzo hit a home
run, his first on the season. SS Kaulana Kuhaulua hit his
third home of the year.
Game 2 - Miracle 2, Dunedin 6 - Marcus
Moseley came in relief of starter Manny Tejada (who went
just 1 1/3 innings), and gave up his first runs on the season. He
gave up 3 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Erik Lohse did pitch
a scoreless inning in relief. For the offense, three players had two
hits a piece. LF Trent Oeltjen went 2-4 with an RBI. CF
Ron Perodin went 2-4. C Kyle Geiger was 2-4.
THE SWING OF THE QUAD CITIES
Monday - Swing 2, West Michigan 7 -
Christopher Schutt had such a strong start to his career last
year after the draft. But with another loss yesterday, he fell to
1-5 on the season. 2B Alex Garcia had three of the team's
seven hits.
Any questions or comments on the Twins minor league
system, e-mail
me.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
WOLVES THOUGHTS
This is it, all the marbles. I'm
sitting in the house loading up the pump, I'm loading up the
Uzis, I've got a couple of M-16s, couple of [guns] with some
silencers on them, couple of grenades, got a missile launcher.
I'm ready for war."
- Kevin Garnett, Minnesota
Timberwolves
OK, that was a quote from Kevin Garnett. I
rarely bash Kevin Garnett for anything, with the exception of
all of his turnovers. But this quote just seemed a big much for even
KG. I love listening to Garnett talk. He usually thinks through what
he says. He always relates a story to make the point he is trying to
make. For instance, if you've seen the Fox Beyond the Glory
episode on Garnett, at one point, he responds saying, "The sun
always shines. It's just that sometimes the clouds get in the way."
He is a smart man. However, I hate reading athletes
talking about war, especially at this time. But for him to be as
descriptive as he was in this description, you would think mid-way
through it, his senses would have started. He had to realize just
how dumb this sounds.
After Game 6's fiasco, the Wolves need to be ready to
play. Sam Cassell needs to show up. The Wolves will have to
play incredibly well to win Game 7.
The did get some good news though yesterday.
Anthony Peeler has been suspended by the NBA for 2 games.
Kevin Garnett was only fined $7,500. I think the punishments
were fair. The Kings talk about how Peeler was only retaliating.
Well, we've all seen what started it... the shot Peeler threw in the
midsection of Garnett.
Anyway, I just had to be fair and briefly bash KG for
his comments. I know what he meant. He probably didn't want it to
sound so bad. But it did.
Enough on that. We still have another day to wait for
Game 7!
Movie Reviews
As I mentioned yesterday, I took some time away from
the computer, away from researching baseball, over this weekend. I
took some time and did something else I love doing, watching movies.
It has been a long time since I had a movie weekend where I just
watched a bunch of movies. I had to get caught up a little. To be
completely honest, I went into the town video stores frequently
trying to catch Scary Movie 3 when it was in, but I never
did. But I was able to watch five movies I had not seen before. From
the variety of movies you'll see below, you can tell that I have
varying tastes in movies. I generally like the comedy, slap-stick is
great, but sometimes I like watching other movies, dramas and deep
thinking movies. Enjoy the reviews below.
Stuck on You
The
Farrelly Brothers have made some great movies in the past.
Dumb and Dumber.
There's Something
about Mary.
Me, Myself and Irene.
Shallow Hal.
And many more. They are generally incredibly funny movies with some
scenes or situations or characters that just make your jaw drop.
Stuck on You
is very similar.
Matt Damon (Bob) and
Greg Kinnear
(Walt) play twins conjoined at the hips. They share a liver. They
both are very successful chefs in a small Martha's Vineyard
restaurant. Walt is a very good actor, so the two take a leap and
move to Hollywood. They hire a crazy agent and end up in a TV series
with Cher.
Because they are conjoined, it means some creative editing. But once
their secret comes out, they become huge celebrities. Anyway, so as
not to give up too much detail, I will just say that there is some
hysterical situational comedy throughout the movie. It is well worth
watching. However, I judge movies many times based on how often I
will want to watch it. I don't think I will watch this movie more
than twice. PS - We like
Eva Mendes!
And, for us sports junkies, the Farrelly Brothers try to get actual
star athletes in to their movies. There are guest appearances by the
likes of Tom Brady, Lawyer Milloy, Troy Brown,
Jesper Parnevik, Billy Andrade and Sergio Garcia.
Win a Date with Tad
Hamilton
I thought this was going to be a dumb, cutesy little
movie, but to be honest, it was actually very good. Those of you who
like the NBC hit drama
Las Vegas
know Josh Duhamel
as Danny McCoy. Daytime soap fans may remember him from his days as
Leo du Pres on All
My Children. North Dakotans may remember him as a student
from Minot who went on to play football and Minot State. He stars as
Tad Hamilton, a Hollywood hunk who is a party animal. His
agent believes he needs to do something to help his image and get
him more jobs. So, they set up an internet contest to win a date
with him. Back in West Virginia, Pete is the manager of
Piggly Wiggly. He has always loved his friend Rosalee but has
never told her. Due to the beauty of Hollywood, Rosalee wins the
contest. On their date, Tad realizes that he really likes her and
goes to West Virginia to win her heart.
I
actually thought this movie was as funny as Stuck on You and the
story was far better. I would watch it again. You know
Topher Grace
as Eric Foreman on
That 70s Show,
but I was totally impressed by his acting in this role. He was
perfectly cast! Also, we heart
Kate Bosworth,
who plays Rosalee. She was another good casting decision. She has a
cuteness to her that is obvious, but she also has the small town,
simple look about her.
Mona Lisa Smile
I like watching previews. I may be one of the only
people in the world who actually watches them. Because Topher
Grace was in Win a Date... and is also in Mona Lisa
Smile, there was a preview for Mona Lisa Smile on the
Win a Date DVD.
I must have been in the right mood, so I decided I
would watch it. And now, I am really glad I did. I am totally not a
Julia Roberts
fan. She's a fine actress, but most of her movies bore me. In
Mona Lisa Smile, she plays an art professor who moves from UCLA
to Wellesley, a traditional, women's college in the east. She has to
deal with students who are brilliant but think very traditionally.
In the '50s, these women went to college and had incredible academic
backgrounds, but their whole purpose was to be married and become a
housewife.
I really enjoy era movies, movies about a particular
situation in a particular time period. I also like that two
excellent young actresses were great in this movie.
Julia Stiles
and Kirsten Dunst
were both great! But I also think that the job was very responsible.
I showed well how ridiculous the situation back then was for women.
But it also showed that, even given their education, being a house
wife may still be what that woman wants.
If you liked
Dead Poet's Society,
you will probably like this movie. I did.
Big Fish
I also saw the preview for
Big Fish. It
is a movie about a son who has had to listen to his father's
far-fetched "big-fish" stories his whole life. Stories of giants and
hidden cities, of long-lost love and naked beauties in the water.
The son is really just sick of the stories and doesn't believe any
of them. But as the father is nearing the end of his life, the
stories start to all come together, and it is all making sense to
him, and he has a newfound respect for his father and his life.
If I'm being honest, the movie started out a little
slow. It was hard to get into, but by the midway point in the movie,
I couldn't peel my eyes from the television.
I have talked before about
Good Will Hunting
and how, when I watched it, I was so impressed at the writing, and
how all the loose ends were answered by the end of the movie. Big
Fish is just like that. By the end, everything just comes
together perfectly. Director Tim Burton may be a bit strange, but in
this case, he made a great movie. The cast is really great, and
filled with what would probably be considered second and third tier
stars like Ewan
McGregor,
Jessica Lange,
Helena Bonham Carter,
Robert Guillaume,
Steve Buschemi
and Albert Finney.
I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone!
Something's Gotta Give
Jack
Nicholson stars as a man (Harry) who is unable to date women
his own age, only far younger women. In the beginning, he is dating
Marin (played by
Amanda Peet - yum!). They go to her mother's place to get
out of NYC. He is grabbing stuff from the fridge when her mother
walks in. You've seen the previews, and this is a fairly predictable
movie. The mother is played by
Diane Keaton
who has not really dated since splitting from her husband. Well,
Harry's doctor is played by
Keanu Reaves,
whose character is very much attracted to the older Keaton.
The movie certainly has its funny moments, but I
definitely don't need to watch it again. It wasn't great. It took
too long to get there, but the ending was incredibly predictable. It
just isn't a good movie. I'm not a big Nicholson fan anyway (except
in A Few Good Men
and Anger
Management), so it's not surprising that I don't like it.
It's worth watching once, especially if you are over the age of 50.
So, what do you think? Do you agree with my thoughts on
the movies? Am I wrong? Are there any other movies that I should watch?
E-mail me.
That is it for today. Have yourself a great day! As always, if
you have any questions or comments on anything, please
e-mail me.
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