Joe Mauer = Wally Pipp?
Forget our sentimental attachment to that hometown kid. There’s a new sheriff on the block, and it’s Wilson Ramos. He’s hitting .778! Makes .367 sound pretty wimpy, doesn’t it? At least maybe it’ll give Mauer something to strive for.
Seriously though, it’s almost sad to see Ramos doing so well, because there is no place for him on the Twins. He is not going to be in this uniform for very long. He’s way too good to be Joe’s backup and even though he may be good enough to get a starting job on most other teams in baseball, he’s not good enough to overtake the incumbent here. So I’m just going to watch, cheer, hope he doesn’t get hurt, and pray that Bill “Baseball Teams Just Build Themselves, Don’t They?” Smith can actually make a smart deal for him eventually. I don’t want to hear about Wilson Ramos being traded for two 27-year-old pitching prospects with mid-80s stuff and injury histories who are either A) formerly well-thought of and/or high draft picks who flamed out, B) related to current or former Twins players, or C) former Twins prospects who didn’t cut it then and won’t cut it now. If I hear “Ramos traded for Phil Humber and Bobby Kielty!”, I’m coming after someone and it won’t be pretty.
So a good welcome-back in Target Field tonight! Twins 10, Tigers. 4. I do love to see our runs-scored in double digits. I believe the Twins are now 17-9. They ended the season last year 11 games over .500, but at what point did they reach eight games over? I bet it wasn’t until that last week or so. I know they didn’t get more than a couple games over until well after the All-Star Break. This season, this run they’ve been on, this is when it’s easy and glorious to be a baseball fan.
Oh, and one other thing:
MEET YOUR AL PITCHER OF THE MONTH.
That’s what I’m talkin’ about! I have to admit I actually teared up a little bit when I heard Dick mention it during the game tonight. Frankie’s worked so hard, and it looked for a while like he really wasn’t going to make it back. He’s more than earned this. Way to go, Frankie!
See You Tomorrow Night! 