Brian's Thursday Throwdown

Eleven out of fifteen! Geez, at this rate the Twins are on pace to win about 115 ball games this season - can you imagine that? The Twins are 11-4, and the Rays are 11-4, but then there are the Yankees, leading the field by a half a game, at 11-3. I thought the Yankees were always a .500 ball club through the first month or so of the season. What's up with this 11-3 crap? What's up with Phil Hughes throwing 7 no-hit innings last night? He's not THAT good, is he? What's up with that huge ball of something in A-Rod's cheek? Looked like he was about to choke as he legged out a triple last night. That had better be an all-day jawbreaker and not some Southern Fried Levi Garrett there, ol' boy! And by the way, if anyone wonders why I wanted Roy Halladay more than any other pitcher on my fantasy team, you should know by now. He may not lose a game all year! Okay, maybe a few, but 25-5 by season's end, in my opinion, is certainly not out of the question.

Back to the Twins & Yankees. As well as both teams are doing so far this season, there is one thing that is impressing me so much about the Twins so far this season that actually is reminding of the Yankees (man, it hurts to say that!). As much as it could be, it's not the pitching, or the home runs they've hit so far, or even the new stadium they have opened just one season after the Yankees did the same thing. Instead, it's all the walking the Twins are doing. In all these years that the Yankees have been so good, especially against the Twins, the one thing that I've been annoyed the most about - yet have also admired about them - is how patient they are at the plate. The Yankees drive starting pitchers insane because they make them throw so many pitches in so few innings. Not to mention the fact that they get the benefit of every call....oops, did I write that out loud? :oP

So far this season, as near as I can tell, the Twins are actually leading the Majors in taking walks, with 76, one ahead of the Yankees, who I guess have played one less game, but to me, that is such a big reason for their success so far. In a game like last night's, the Twins scored six runs on only six hits, but they were helped by six walks issued by Cleveland pitchers. Yikes, that's a lot of sixes! Funny thing is, of the five teams that the Twins have played so far this season, four of them -- the White Sox, Indians, Royals, and even the Red Sox -- are all at the top of the stat sheet in terms of numbers of free passes issued in the American League. Go figure - just a little something "Beyond the Box Score," as Chris Attebury (the Twins' radio host) would say. Incidentally, as usual, the Twins pitchers are also leading the Majors in issuing the fewest bases on balls. RE...SPECT! WALK! (If you get that reference, then ROCK ON!) Keep it going, Twins!

As for my other favorite sports franchise and their troubled 2-time Super Bowl Champion quarterback out of Miami of Ohio, I would be remiss if I didn't offer my opinion on that situation. The only problem is, I don't want to say anything I might regret, so I'll just go on hoping that everything works out for the best.