Like a Phoenix

It's a double-reference. I'm hoping, for one thing, that the Twins will rise from the (largely self-created) ashes of the current 2-0 deficit to the Yankees and hand the Bombers a drubbing in Games 3 and 4 at the Dome.

But . . . the reference is also to this blog. Or, at least, the spirit of this blog. I've decided to start the blogging life up again, although not at this URL. You can find the new Taylor's Twins Talk over at taylorstwinstalk.wordpress.com. If you liked what you read here, hop on over. Hope to see you there!

The End

It's been a good ride, folks, but it looks like I'm joining the long list of bloggers who burn out after awhile and move on to other pursuits. While I still enjoy writing my thoughts down, the rarity of my posting since the end of the season is a pretty clear indication that I don't enjoy it enough to actually sit down and do it. It seemed appropriate to pull the plug now rather than get into the start of Spring Training when traffic usually picks up and people started wondering where I was. I certainly could continue to operate the blog on a part-time basis, but I think if I dragged things out I would come to resent blogging rather than leaving having enjoyed it. So, thanks to all of you who checked in from time to time -- and go Twins!

Blog Update

Hello all -- just wanted to let you know that I'm still around and plan on resuming a more normal blogging schedule over the next few weeks. I will cover "big news" as normal, and also plan on posting on other topics when I get the chance. Unfortunately, studying for the Bar Exam is a definite chore, so even though I'm not officially in school anymore, I might as well be. Hopefully in the next few days I'll get my first "Organizational Database" post up. I also plan to be back with a Boxing Banter post next Sunday (didn't get around to it yesterday -- first time I've missed since I started it!).

Blog Update

First things first -- when I changed templates all of my links disappeared. I'm going to be reconstructing them over the next couple of weeks, but here's my request to those of you who I may have linked to in the past: if you still want to be linked to, please let me know with an e-mail to taylorjs@colorado.edu (or a comment on this blog would probably work too, I suppose). This doesn't mean I won't link to anybody that doesn't contact me -- it just means that I'm less likely to accidentally overlook someone if you remind me!

Second, I'm heading back to Minnesota tomorrow for the holidays. I still intend on blogging a bit during the next two weeks, but I'm less likely to catch any breaking news as quickly as I normally would.

Blog Update

This is not an excuse for my lack of off-season blogging to this point (that's been due to a combination of being busy and a lack of major off-season news), but my computer screen just went belly up tonight. I'm down to using a very unreliable backup, and will probably not be blogging much at all until I get my computer fixed (hopefully by next week). If something major happens I'll do my best to get on and talk about it.

Congrats to the Gold Glover

I wanted to post a congrats to Twins Gold Glove catcher Joe Mauer -- I imagine this will be the first of many for a guy who is rightfully one of the best catchers in baseball. There is a good argument put forth by folks like Marty that Mauer also deserves this year's AL MVP award, but this is a nice consolation prize since the MVP is pretty unlikely.

As for this blog, expect light blogging to continue at least through Saturday. I take the MPRE on Saturday -- it's the first of the tests required of those who want to be lawyers. There's a joke somewhere in the fact that ethics are tested using a 60-question multiple choice exam, but I'll leave that for others. Hopefully when the exam is done and I'm not taking practice tests anymore I'll get a chance to write a few longer posts. See you then!

Blog Update

I had planned on getting up a "roster additions" post by yesterday, but that didn't happen. Now, I'm in full on election mode (not to mention homework mode), so don't expect anything for the next few days. Hopefully Thursday. Whatever your political affiliation, get out and vote tomorrow if you haven't already. Can't wait to see how things unfold tomorrow!

Blog Update

It's been a pretty quiet few days for me on the blogging front, and it may stay like that for another few days while I just take the chance to unwind and not think about posting. However, as I've done over the previous couple of off-seasons, I plan to run a pretty regular blogging schedule through the winter months. By the end of this week, expect regular posts to resume as I comment on the post-season, awards, impending free agents, minor league performances from this summer, and potential additions to the 40-man roster (not all at once, and not necessarily in that order). I will also, of course, be discussing any roster moves that happen. Until then, enjoy the American League playoff games tomorrow (go Rays!) as well as what I hope will be a Vikings win on Monday Night Football.

Blog Update

I decided against posting a second nightly notes column for the night, because it would have centered primarily on Glen Perkins and his recent uninspiring performances. Since the Twins got the win and are now tied for first in the AL Central, I'm just going to call it a night. I should be back tomorrow afternoon, after the Twins have hopefully grabbed sole possession of first!

The Loss Was Bad, But . . .

This story from ESPN is worse. Baseball's not American? Color me horrified.

If I get a chance this weekend, my plan is to post daily Nightly Notes columns (obviously not today, or I would be doing it now), and I also would like to give my thoughts on the rather fascinating MVP race in the National League. Colin Cowherd discussed whether "time" was a factor in the determination of an MVP, and it's a great topic that I'd like to address.

Blog Update

The Twins just lost -- again -- to remain 2.5 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central race. I intend to be back posting Nightly Notes columns when the team returns to the field on Tuesday against the Royals. There's a good chance I'll also post something tomorrow -- there are several possibilities, including a look ahead to the post-season and recaps of minor league season-that-was.
I hope you all had a chance to check out some of the many sporting events on the schedule today -- it's been great for me, from this morning's thrilling Formula 1 race to this afternoon's Sprint Cup and IRL races to, of course, the first full day of NFL action. This is an incredible time of year for sports, isn't it? Enjoy what remains of your weekend, and I'll be back tomorrow or Tuesday.

Wow

That's pretty much about all I have to say. Talk about mailing it in on the last day of the long road trip! There was no life in the bats, the pitching was largely dreadful (Slowey wasn't horrid, but man was the bullpen bad), and I'm just glad the road trip is over. Thankfully, the Twins find themselves just a game and a half back, and there's still plenty of time -- but the team I saw playing tonight was in no sense of the word a playoff team. This is not a nightly notes column (a game like this doesn't deserve one), but I do have a few thoughts:

1.) This is why I always question relying on minor league pitchers to come in and be saviors at the big league level. Korecky and Humber both pitched tonight, and really struggled. I'm not saying that's going to continue -- I'm rooting for these guys are hard as anyone -- but it would have been a mistake to call Korecky up in August and then insert him into close games.

2.) Apparently TV folks don't do much research. The Blue Jays announcers said several times that Humber was making his big league debut (they also called him Philip HUM-ber, and I think it's pronounced "UM-ber", but that's not my point). Of course, he wasn't -- a simple trip through any number of baseball reference sites will tell you that. What's interesting about this isn't that they got it wrong -- that happens to everybody. No, instead I was amused by the fact that they then blamed the Twins for the misinformation. Now, that's probably true -- the Twins undoubtedly provide an info sheet to the TV folks to make their lives easier. But was it really necessary to blame the Twins for a screwup? Just make the correction and move on -- I don't know, I thought it was sort of funny.

3.) I hope to have something positive to write about tomorrow -- lord knows there's really nothing tonight. Enjoy your weekend!

No Notes Tonight

I'm trying to catch up with a couple of classes that I jumped into a week late, so no notes tonight. I'll just say I'm glad that the White Sox are on their way to losing tonight, keeping the AL Central all tied up. Also, while the focus will once again probably be on the bullpen, since Glen Perkins left with the lead, Perkins obviously didn't pitch that well either. Hopefully tomorrow brings a better result.

Blog Update

I know, I know, I haven't given you a REAL nightly notes post in several days. Sadly, I'm paid to do lawyerly stuff and to teach, not to blog. I'm still settling into my first week of the new semester, which has led to what is, I hope, an uncommonly large amount of evening work. I should have the opportunity to post a notes column tomorrow night, and I also plan on talking about who I would name as September callups if I were GM Bill Smith -- probably in a post on Saturday.

Oh yeah -- isn't it great that college football is back? I can't wait until Saturday!

No Notes Tonight

I'm working on another project, and I'm not going to get a post up tonight. Still, I had to take a second to comment on tonight's win. The Twins absolutely could not afford to be swept by the Mariners. I'm sure the road trip is at the point where it's starting to drag on everybody a little bit, and the guys are tired and would love to be home. Still, you have to take advantage of games against bad teams like the Mariners, and unfortunately the Twins largely couldn't do that. Getting the win today, though, snaps the losing streak -- and because of the fact that the Twins needed to battle (and needed a great throw from Denard Span out in right field), maybe it will also serve to fire up the guys.

Let's hope the wins continue in the days ahead. Hopefully, I'll be back with a notes post tomorrow night. Until then . . .

Blog Update

I'll be back with some notes tomorrow. Hopefully, the Twins will still be in first place at that point, although it looks like they're going to need a win tonight to make that happen, what with the White Sox leading the Royals handily midway through the game. Catch ya tomorrow.

Blog Update

Nice to see the Twins take care of business last night against the Royals -- with the White Sox playing the Red Sox, the Twins need to win at least one more of the next two games, and a sweep would be great. I intend to put up a Nightly Notes post tonight after the game -- and maybe the Twins will find themselves in first place again at that point.

Incidentally, I'm sorry to hear about Michael Cuddyer's injury. Even though he hasn't had a great year even when healthy, he still is a player who has obviously been very successful at the big league level, and it would have been nice to have him back. Thankfully, the Twins have been winning without him, and now the Twins don't have the dilemma of what to do with Denard Span and Carlos Gomez. Hopefully, Cuddyer can heal quickly and return to the team by the end of the season -- but I have no idea how long a broken foot takes to heal, so we'll see.

Enjoy your Saturday, and I'll be back tonight.

Blog Update

I'm tired and I'm cranky (moving heavy things all day long will do that to you), so I'm in no mood to put together a real blog post tonight. A few things I'm thinking about while lying on my couch:

1.) I'm disappointed (and surprised) that the Twins didn't even make a minor move today. This morning, I placed the odds at just 10% that the Twins would do absolutely nothing. I guess the great thing about expressing predictions in terms of percentages is that, really, you can't prove I was wrong!

2.) I'm thrilled that the Twins seem to be leaning towards parting ways with Livan Hernandez. About bloody time. Hopefully, this is more than just a mere rumbling.

3.) Looks like the Twins are going to win again tonight. Taking 3-of-4 from the White Sox is a huge deal for the team. They're serious contenders, and with Francisco Liriano in the rotation (hopefully by next week) -- along with Manny Ramirez NOT being on the Red Sox -- I suddenly feel as if the Twins can compete with any team in the AL not based in Anaheim. Well, except for the Yankees in New York, which is Twins kryptonite.

4.) Far be it from me to make fun of people with eclectic interests, but I'm unbelievably sick of the X-Games. ESPN has been promoting them for seemingly months. The ads are just plain stupid -- not witty, or edgy, or thoughtful, but really, really stupid. They're treated like a big deal, but I don't know anyone who enjoys them (which maybe says more about who I hang out with than anything else). Obviously, people watch -- otherwise this stuff would disappear, or be shown about as often as the Lumberjack Games. Still, I really don't understand the appeal. I can't wait for this junk to be done so the parade of inane ads disappears.

Blog Update

Just a reminder that I'm in the middle of moving, which has been taking up a lot of the time that I would normally spend blogging (or putting together some ideas for the blog). By Friday, I should be settled in, and by Sunday I should have resumed a normal blogging schedule. Until then, don't expect much more than the occasional note such as I dropped earlier tonight discussing Adam Everett being cut. If the Twins make a deal tomorrow or Thursday, I'll find time to post my thoughts.

Incidentally, congrats to the Twins for winning tonight's game. Going into the White Sox series, I felt that the Twins had to split the series at a bare minimum -- losing it 3-1 or being swept would have been unbelievably deflating, especially since the series is being played in the Dome. The Twins have now successfully done what they had to do, and anything else is a bonus. You have to think there's a good chance they can win at least one of the next two games to finish the series just 1/2 game back -- and dare we dream about a sweep? We'll see!

Blog Update

I was off watching the new X-Files movie tonight (mini-review: definitely not good, but maybe not quite as terrible as many reviewers are suggesting), so I didn't get the chance to see the Twins almost come back against the Indians, or the White Sox once again demonstrate that they're the team of destiny this year. Nor did I get the chance to see Joba Chamberlain dominate the Red Sox. Put it this way -- I'm glad I was out. These three results are pretty much the exact opposite of what I would have preferred to see (I really don't like Joba -- guess he reminds me a little too much of Clemens). Anyway, I intend to be back tomorrow with at least one and maybe two posts. It all depends on how my early morning moving goes -- I'm in the homestretch, and have to be out of my current place on Thursday. Going to be a rough week!