Notes From a Weekend in Cali

Well, I write this from a house in Sacramento, after spending the past couple days in San Francisco and seeing the Twins play across the bay in Oakland on Friday and Saturday. The experience was... well, mixed.

On Friday night, the weather in McAfee Coliseum was kinda crappy. It was clear, but very chilly, and I had only my Twins batting practice jersey so I was freezing. The game was great, while maybe a little boring. Johan Santana pitched a complete game shutout, and on the shoulders of a Michael Cuddyer RBI single, the Twins won 1-0. You better believe I was rubbing it in the faces of those A's faithful. Santana's performance gave me a boost of hope that maybe the Twins would be able to win the series and salvage some respect. Clearly I was mistaken, as the next day's events would prove.

Today, the Twins' terrible offense showed through. Outside of a solid two-run homer from Justin Morneau (who also hit a nice double), the Twins' offense did NOTHING. Does this team have ANY confidence?? In the ninth inning, three straight batters representing the tying run went down looking. I shouldn't say looking, because the latter two (Stewart and Tiffee) went out on embarrassing half-swings. Can't these guys take a confident hack at a ball and try to drive in these runs? It's utterly disgusting. I'm really on the verge of being finished with watching this team.

Why is Mike Ryan starting in right field?? I don't know what's wrong with Jacque Jones that Mike started Friday and Saturday in right (is Jacque hurt?), but Ryan looked absolutely lost at the plate and in the field. There's no way he should be in the Majors right now.

Also, WHY IS JOE MAYS STILL A STARTING PITCHER FOR THIS BALLCLUB???!! As usual, he fell apart in tonight's game and caused the loss. Can't Gardy and Terry Ryan get it through their incredibly thick skulls that we have two amazing prospects waiting in the wings who would pitch MUCH better than Mays and give us a much better chance to win?? I can't believe the guy is still starting. He should be cut.

Anyway, the experience here in Cali has been fun. McAfee Coliseum is not a great stadium by any means, it really has no distinguishing features, but it is still nice to be able to watch outdoor baseball. We were able to walk around SBC Stadium, home of the Giants, but unfortunately they were not in town. I could tell just by looking in that that is one of the best ballparks in the country.