Nightly Notes

No comment tonight on the Twins woefully anemic offense. Instead, I want to make sure that everyone who wanders across this site tonight or tomorrow sees this article about the return of Rick Ankiel. I think his is a great story of determination and perseverance, and I'm in favor of any article that mentions Tony LaRussa getting misty eyed. In case you didn't hear or aren't aware, Ankiel was once a pitching phenom in the Cardinals system who completely fell apart by throwing 4 wild pitches in the 2000 playoffs. Since then, he's tried (and failed) to get it together on the mound. Rather than calling it quits, however, Ankiel decided to try out as an outfielder, and finally was called up to the bigs. In his return, he hit a three-run homer. It's a great story, and I encourage you to read the article. Congratulations to Ankiel for a successful return, and I hope his story continues to be so positive.

Tomorrow, the Twins play the Angels in a pretty important series -- time is running out for the Twins to gain ground. Maybe we'll see Tommy Watkins make his big league debut while we're at it. Scott Baker's on the mound tomorrow, so the big question will be whether he can continue his recent string of success -- if he can, the Twins should have a chance to take the game (at least, if they put a run on the board -- you can't win with 0, after all). Go Twins!