2.16.2011

Happy Birthday Stinky!

Hard to figure out what the best birthday present is for our fellow heavenly peanut, the immensely talented and intelligent Stinky.

First, players will officially report for spring training tomorrow. Sunshine, blue skies, balls, bats, baseball is coming back! After having to shovel off her car several dozen times this winter, this is a harbinger of good times and fortuitously timed to boot.

Second, the adorably scrappy Little Nicky Punto has been elected by you (our loyal readers) to the Peanuts from Heaven Hall of Fame. While he is small of stature he is great in grit, pluck and guile. Watching a man the size and shape of a supermarket bag boy play major league baseball never failed to make us laugh.

Third, Delmon Young has signed a contact and will be back in left field for the coming season. This means that whenever Stinky goes to the ballpark she'll be treated to another year worth of her dad saying: "Alright Delmont!!" (she'll also be treated to the various other things that people say about Delmon...but this is a family blog and we won't print them here)

Finally, there's the following clip of the honorable chairman Joseph Mauer honing his swing for the coming season. Better still, he's being serenaded by the roots raising Stinky's hopes still higher for a ?uestlove guest track on Mauer's upcoming rap album: Ballz and Strikz.


Clearly the Twins know how important it is to keep the fans happy--or at least, to keep Stinky happy. If Stinky ain't happy, ain't no body happy!

2.08.2011

Ain't Too Proud to Beg...

There's just a week to go before pitchers and catchers report which means only 7 days left to vote for the Peanuts from Heaven Hall of Fame!!! So all you lurkers and random passers-by on the internet, don't be afraid, the buttons won't bite you! Look over there at the right hand side of the screen and click on the players who made watching Twins games a treat.

So cast your vote and leave a comment while you're at it. We like making new friends: Brazilians, Brits, Oregonians, Oklahomans, heck--even New Yorkers! We're Minnesotans, we're bound by state law to be nice. So leave a comment and make a Peanut's day!

Join the gang, join the discussion, life's more fun when we share. Seriously, I need some baseball conversations; I need debates and complaints, pleas and analyses. Who will lead our team in scrappiness without Nicky Punto around? Is Joe Nathan healthy, and if not, will he cut off Matt Capps' arm and make it his own? If a Jason Kubel falls in the woods and no one's around to hear it, does it make a sound?

These are the kinds of question that make baseball fun! Now that we're free from the iron grasp of pro football let us rejoice and make merry!! Baseball's back, share the joy! (PLEASE?!?)

2.01.2011

A Letter to My New Hero

Dear Brian Duensing,

I have just finished reading this recent news article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and let me begin by saying: my deepest condolences to you and your friends, family and neighbors in Omaha. I can't imagine the trauma of the incident described, and I hope that your community can continue to come together in this time of need.

However, I learned many other things from this article. For instance: You totally despise the Yankees...so do I. You graduated from high school in 2001...so did I. You majored in English Literature and expressed an interest in teaching high school if baseball didn't work out...so did I! (Only I could tell baseball wouldn't work out for me around age 9.)

Because you're so much like me Brian, I now feel terrible about constantly linking blog posts about you to silly you tube clips and giving you the nickname: "Brian "You Make Me Feel Like" Duensing ". I would not have made such a lame joke if I had known how alike we are. I will also resist, for the moment, the temptation to ask you for lesson plan opinions and making silly comments about Vygotsky's "Strike Zone of Proximal Development" [Education Nerd Joke! HIYO--!!!!!]

I will simply wish you best of luck on the coming season...because when one English Lit/Education Major wins...WE ALL WIN!!

Warmest Regards,
The Scruffy Rube

P.s. Nerds FOREVER!!