Secrets of the City

(via PiPress)

“Twins catcher Joe Mauer won his second straight Gold Glove today, marking the 40th time a Minnesota player has won the award.”

AP report on Gold Glove winners.

Twinkie Talk congrats to Mauer.

Anybody want to weigh in on the latest Twins trade: Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy?

A few of the really hard core Twins fans/bloggers (John Bonnes (Twins Geek), Nick Nelson (Nick’s Twins Blog), Parker Hageman (Over the Baggy) and Seth Stohs(SethSpeaks.net) have come up with some recommendations for the Twins’ off season moves. Some suggestions are summarized in this entry, but for the really hard nosed of you, they’ve written it all out in excruciating detail in a book (which they were kind enough to provide me an advance copy. Thanks, John.) Here it is: Twins Centric Offseason GM Handbook.

Some baseball economics: According to ESPN, the Yankees total 2009 salary was $208 million.  The Twins’ was $68 million. So NY paid $227K for every run they scored this year (915) and over $2M per win (103). Twins paid $83K per run (817) and $777K per win (87).  Not like these numbers are a big surprise, but I guess it remains to be seen who got the better deal.

As our Twins prepare to face the Yankees in New York today, I thought we should pause a moment to discuss last night’s extra-innings victory in the Dome, which some players are now calling “the greatest game ever.” Even this Detroit columnist was impressed. What do you think, MNSpeakers?

Outdoor baseball officially returns to Minneapolis on April 12 when the Twins host Boston in the first game that counts at Target Field. Minnesota is to host St. Louis in exhibitions on April 2-3.

Joe Mauer is back from injury and will be playing for the Twins for the first time this year. The Strib’s Jim Souhan gives him a sweet bouquet in a welcome back article today, in which he tells us to love Mauer for what he is, instead of the power hitter he is not. Particularly laughable is Souhan’s mention of Ted WIlliams and Joe DiMaggio, who, I seem to recall, actually tried to hit the ball over the fence now and then. But, according to Souhan, they didn’t fit in to their surroundings as well as Joe does.

I reprise a question from last year. Who was the last Twin to hit for the cycle? If you guessed Carlos Gómez, you didn’t hear that Jason Kubel did it in extraordinary fashion on Friday night. He completed the cycle with a grand slam in the eighth inning, adding the punctuation mark and the better part of seven runs to an inning that turned a five-run loss into a two-run win. However, this might be only the second best grand slam in Kubel’s career.

It’s the new baseball season, and the Twins had a good night last night, so let’s talk sports blogging. Where do you look for your online Twins news?

According to Star Tribune columnist Pat Reusse, on Joe Soucheray’s KSTP show (reported here), Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad is dead at age 93. If anyone hears any more about this, please comment.  [Update: Star Tribune confirms.]