Great photo is right!

I'm thinking the kids dad probably said go ask Mr Carew where Tony is. Some folks here haven't got a clue.

Took me a while to find out why the posts were about the importance of what you post. Jack you are living the life that we want. Your posts are my first read, I don't reply because the replies usually cover anything I need to know. Please keep giving us the real news from down there.

Pfft. Not really, but maybe someday he'll get tossed from the ballpark for swearing too much and too loudly. You never know how they turn out.

LOL. Good one but WRONG. I was way worse than that kid if you wanna know.

Then I also get it. Your teacher-nal instinct just kicked in after that story.

Oh dear...see parents need to teach kids a little baseball history ;-)
I remember seeing Denny Hocking 'cuss' a kid out for asking for his autograph......the kid already had it..Denny said son you have to know who you're getting to sign your ball...
eke!!

I had a run in with Tony at the Mpls Airport, he smiled and sang the chiquita banana song to me, it was awesome! And he also had a nice conversation with my parents at Wolves game awhile ago.

he's such a great guy - I love him to bits!!

Nice! I was at that game, I'm pretty sure I passed out after Carlos crossed the plate..........

Jack, I've been sending out baseballs to some of the Twins greats and I decided to send a few to Spring Training and some young guys too. Figured Sano was a long shot but I tried. The only others were Benson and Hendriks. A few days ago, Hendriks sent a ball back! I told him in a letter I wrote that we were distant cousins and that they must spell my last name wrong in Australia.

Anyways, I've sent out 17 items and gotten 11 back. The only one that's annoyed me is Hrbek. Sent him an ALS donation check and a week ago, the check was cashed and I can tell from a scan of it online that Hrbek even signed the back. Yet he hasn't sent back my baseball!

Otherwise, I've heard from guys like Kaat, Perry, Gagne, Reardon, Tapani, Kelly, and some others. I've been journaling about it on a blog I started . . . check it out if you'd like. ttmmntwins.blogspot.com.

I like the updates Jack. In a few years when the wife and I head down for Spring Break and take the little ones to Disney World, I'd like to meet up!

you're having pretty good luck! Sano was here for a week and left and hasn't returned so there's hope yet.

I hope I'm still here in a few years. Meeting up would be great.

It's really hot here, to hot. They knocked off just after noon today, about an hour early.

I watched Morneau, Valencia and Butera take live bp from Oliveras. Oliveras looked sharp, but drilled Butera beween the shoulder blades. It hurt to just hear it.

No blocking dummy drills today. I might skip tommorrow and just take in the b game at 1.

Spring training is something every baseball fan needs to do once in their life. I went last year and I had such a good time. You get to interact with the players and see everything up close and personal. I took time off work this year and was planning on bringing some buddies down there but the plane to tickets from Sioux falls was crazy expensive.

Ahh Jack you are evil rubbing all the sunshine in our faces ;-)
Probably too warm to do the drill? Bummer I was looking forward to the report.
Have fun if you head to the game tomorrow!

Fun! This is from LaVelle about the game tomorrow:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/140912863.html

We'll have baseball for you tomorrow here at Hammond Stadium when the Twins and Red Sox play a B game designed to give them opportunities to look at some of the 30-something pitchers they have in camp.

Here's a list of who is playing:

Pitchers: Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Liam Hendriks, Jeff Manship, Jason Bulger, Carlos Gutierrez, Tyler Robinson, Brendan Wise and Deolis Guerra. Robertson is the only lefthander.

As you can see, each pitcher will throw one inning.

Outfield: The starting outfield will consist of Ben Revere, Joe Benson and Rene Tosoni. Wasn't this the starting outfield in September?

Infield: Around the horn it's Aaron Bates, Pedro Florimon, Brian Dozier and Ray Chang. J.R. Towles is the catcher.

Game time is noon. Admission is free. It's unclear if concessions will be served.

Jon Lester, Daniel Bard and Jesse Carlson are among the pitchers Boston will use.

Alot of so so there, but the object is to see the pitchers. There will be concessions. I wonder if Punto will be coming over. I just got this great bat of his.

I read your blog. Nice. On Hrbek, I'd say he hasn't seen it most likely. He was down here last week, and might still be. Who knows who signed the check.

I might have to get some info from you, and try that myself. I'd really like a Pasqual.

Here is the link to the interview with Joe that VCVC posted about last night:

http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/subindex/sports

Yea,,Thanks VCVC for the heads up...Joe's got a big chip on his shoulder..That's a good thing..Hopefully the whole team does,,

It will be fun, might be hard to see what the pitchers are really like if they are only going one inning but every little bit helps!
Maybe Nick will, if you happen to talk to him at all this spring, you have to ask him how fantastic it must have been to play in the World Series!

Have fun if you are going

I often wonder if Joe would sit down with souhan in the near future or ever.
I do agree with his statement that things that go on in the clubhouse should stay in the clubhouse. Really on the players know what really goes on in house.

Tell Punto I'm sending him a baseball once the season starts and that he better sign it and mail it back!

Scrimmage today.

Scott Baker gave up a 1st inning homer.

Joe Benson tied the game with an RBI infield single.

Nick Blackburn pitched a scoreless 2nd

Brian Dozier doubled down the left field line and was driven in by JR Towles

2-1 heading to the 3rd inning with Manship coming to pitch.

Reports on Morneau so far are encouraging, from what I have been reading on the Twins' site. Is this just him putting on a smiley face? Rumors on fan boards out here are saying his retirement may happen at any moment. Sure hope not!