Twins Twitter Travesty: Don't Brag When You're on a Slide

Collin Kottke — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:28:00 -0400

I like analogies. I think everybody does.

This Minnesota Twins team doesn’t really have any good analogous situations to compare itself to.

A horrible relationship? No, everybody had pretty low expectations coming into 2013, and you probably shouldn’t have low expectations at the beginning of a relationship.

A train wreck that you can’t look away from? Not quite. I didn’t really feel like watching any longer after Evan Gattis hit a Vance Worley 3-0 offering out of Turner Field for a grand slam.

Oh, I know what this whole season is analogous to: a tweet.

Yes. If you are on Twitter, you know the feeling of sending out a tweet. At first you don’t think much about it because it’s just a tweet, but then you start getting proud of yourself because you think it’s a really good one...then you realize how bad it is.

That’s the Twins' season in a 140-character nutshell and a lesson they learned after the loss on Wednesday to the Atlanta Braves.

To set the scene, Twins radio broadcaster and former outfielder Dan Gladden has been hanging a Kent Hrbek jersey outside of the Twins Radio Network booth during the whole series against the Braves.

This of course is in homage to the 1991 World Series and more directly when Kent Hrbek may or may not have lifted Ron Grant off of first base in Game 2 and recorded an out.

It doesn’t matter if Hrbek did lift Grant or not, but that’s what our little feud is about.

The Twins' official Twitter account has been tweeting out some pictures of the Hrbek jersey that can be seen from the stands at Turner Field, which resulted in the following tweet from the Atlanta Braves' official account:

OK. That’s funny. The Braves are a very good team, and they just swept a not-so-good team in the Twins. We can laugh and make fun of ourselves, right?

Nope.

The Twins responded with another picture of their own:

Let’s brag about a World Series that was won in 1991—a World Series that was over 20 years ago.

It’s not a scandal by any means this tweet. It’s not in the ballpark of what happened to cross the Los Angeles Kings’ Twitter account last night, but this tweet is ill-advised.

For one, you got swept. Let the Braves make the jokes.

Two, the Atlanta Braves have won a World Series more recently than the Minnesota Twins. You don’t ever exactly get over a World Series loss, but that does definitely make this joke worse.

Third and finally, your current Twins team stinks. Don’t go and brag about something that happened before Aaron Hicks even turned two years old.

I am aware that the guy who controls the Twins’ Twitter account doesn’t have control over the players and how well they perform, but you need to take that into account before pressing send.

You are on an eight-game losing streak and you just sent down your Opening Day starter to Triple-A.

You are in trouble and don’t have any time to be bragging.

Grab a laptop and start researching prospects or try to sell some tickets.

It’s the selling-tickets-to-batting-practice controversy all over again.

Read more Minnesota Twins news on BleacherReport.com

Twins Notes: Thielbar Call-Up, Deduno's Friday Starter, Plouffe Hurt

Collin Kottke — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:05:30 -0400

So, if you haven’t been paying attention to the Minnesota Twins over the past handful of days, I, frankly, envy you. It has been a rough patch, to say the least, for the Minnesota boys of summer.

The highlight of the weekend was probably the team’s beat writers geeking out about the presence of Ham and Squints from the 1993 baseball classic The Sandlot. The two were in town for the Twins Sandlot weekend in honor of the 20th anniversary of the film.

The film was supposed to be shown after the game on Sunday afternoon. Instead, it was shown on the Target Field big screen during the three hour rain delay—which resulted in a 5-1 loss to the Red Sox and the end of Joe Mauer’s hitting streak.

Yup. That’s how great the Twins have been over this past spell.

Well, that and the seven game losing streak they are currently on.

Here are a couple stories that have been dominating Twins talk over the past couple of days:

Call-up of Caleb Thielbar and the Demotion of Pedro Hernandez

Pedro Hernandez had the joy of facing the Boston Red Sox on Sunday and it didn’t exactly go well for the leftie. Hernandez needed over 100 pitches just to get into the fifth inning of the ballgame, which was both not effective and even more taxing on a currently over-worked bullpen.

The call then came Monday that the Twins were sending Hernandez back to Triple-A Rochester and recalling left-handed relief pitcher Caleb Thielbar from the Red Wings.

Why should we care about Thielbar? And, why does that name sound slightly familiar?

Thielbar is a native Minnesotan, attended Randolph High School and he went to South Dakota State.

The main reason his name might ring a bell is that he pitched for the St. Paul Saints in 2011, before being signed by the big league team across the river. Thielbar is the first-ever former Saint to play for the Minnesota Twins.

Thielbar had appeared in 17 games for Rochester this season with a 3.76 ERA before his promotion on Monday. Not only was he promoted to the big leagues on Monday, but it ended up being Thielbar’s major league debut.

It was a near-perfect debut. The first pitch Thielbar tossed in the major leagues was hit for a single by Atlanta Braves leadoff hitter Andrelton Simmons. After that, nothing went wrong for the 29th native Minnesotan to play for the Twins.

The 26-year-old retired six straight—pitching two scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and recording three strikeouts in his major league debut.

Not a bad night at all for a former independent league hurler.

Thielbar’s performance wasn’t the big talker out of this roster move though.

Who’s going to start Friday?

The demotion of Hernandez meant the spot in the rotation for Friday night against the Detroit Tigers was open. Suddenly, the heavens opened and everybody knew that it was time for Kyle Gibson…or at least we thought.

The signs pointing to the major league debut of Gibson were all right there.

Gibson’s spot in the rotation was up on Friday and his last start for Rochester just happened to be a complete-game, three-hit shutout.

Twins fans were all excited to get a glimpse of the future that is supposed to be so bright, but that excitement died away on Tuesday afternoon when manager Ron Gardenhire announced that ‘Smiling’ Sam Deduno would get the start on Friday night.

Twins fans will have to wait for a little bit longer for that glimpse of the future.

Hopefully, someone will still be watching the Twins as they have slipped to four games under .500.

Darin Mastroianni Ankle Surgery

Everybody’s favorite fourth, probably fifth now, outfielder is going to need ankle surgery to repair a bone chip in his left ankle.

Darin Mastroianni has only appeared in eight games for the Twins in 2013, and has been on the disabled list since April 16.

Mastroianni may be placed on the 60-day disabled list in order to open up a 40-man roster spot.

Rich Harden Progress

I’ve been flying the Rich Harden flag ever since the Twins signed him and, even though I may want to hide behind that flag sometimes, it is important to stay informed on his progress.

This tweet basically says it all though:

Trevor Plouffe Hurt

In Tuesday’s extra-inning contest against the Atlanta Braves, which also featured a rain delay, third baseman Trevor Plouffe was hurt sliding into second base in the 10th inning.

Plouffe received a knee to the head and was immediately taken out of the game. Plouffe was seen shielding his eyes from light as he headed towards the clubhouse.

No official word has been passed down yet, but it was reminiscent of Justin Morneau’s concussion in Toronto a couple years ago. Plouffe shielding his eyes from light is also not a good sign.

Read more Minnesota Twins news on BleacherReport.com

Bleacher Report - Minnesota Twins

Twins Twitter Travesty: Don't Brag When You're on a Slide

Twins Notes: Thielbar Call-Up, Deduno's Friday Starter, Plouffe Hurt