2010 MLB Playoffs / Award Predictions / Twins

It's a little late but this was the predictions I made prior to the playoff beginning this year.  It's not looking so good for me but I'll consider it a moral victory if Texas gets in and if it's the Rangers and Giants I'll probably even try to watch the series as much as I can.

Award predictions:

AL ROY - Neftali Feliz.  Austin Jackson has a nice year but 40 saves and a .88 WHIP are just too good.

NL ROY - Buster Posey.  I think Jason Heyward should win because of the body of work for the whole season but with how SF changed when Posey came up I think he's going to win...and the home run he hit the last game of the year cemented it.

AL Manager - Gardy.  I've never loved how he's manged the X's and O's (I think he does get out managed at times) but he is definitely is a good player manager and had a nice year considering he was dealing with a ton of injuries.

NL Manager - Dusty Baker. He definitely earned it this year bringing a Cincinnati team to the playoffs that no one thought would be in the hunt.

AL Cy Young - Felix Hernandez.  I hate seeing a guy who went 13-12 win the award but he was easily the best pitcher in the AL.  And, because pitchers are eligible for the MVP (something I completely disagree with) I don't feel as bad since the MVP award takes team performance into account more than Cy Young does.

NL Cy Young - 'Doc' Halladay.  It's not going to be close.

AL MVP - Josh Hamilton.  Painfully, I think it should be Robinson Cano.  He held the Yankees afloat when Jeter, Teixeira, ARod, Granderson, etc. all had down years or got hurt.  Hamilton was great and I think Texas winning the West is going to be enough for him to get the award but I struggle giving it to someone who only had sixteen official at bats after August 31st.

NL MVP - Joey Votto. Pound for pound no one meant more to a playoff team this year in the NL than he did.

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2011 Twins

The Twins are in trouble next year.  Payroll is no longer an excuse.  Joe Christensen from Star tribune predicts a 2011 payroll of of $105 million.  That number is without Orlando Hudson, Jim Thome, Carl Pavano, Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier and Brian Fuentes next year.  That's with a bench whose highest paid player is Brendan Harris and a starting rotation that still does not have its much needed ace.  For that amount of money, this team looks like another one and done in the playoffs at best.

STARTING LINEUP
1. CF, Denard Span: $1 million
2. 2B, Alexi Casilla: $600,000**
3. C, Joe Mauer: $23 million
4. 1B, Justin Morneau: $15 million
5. LF, Delmon Young: $5 million**
6. DH, Jason Kubel: $5.25 million***
7. RF, Michael Cuddyer: $10.5 million
8. 3B, Danny Valencia: $420,000*
9. SS, J.J. Hardy: $6 million**
Total (9 starters): $66,770,000

BENCH
INF, Brendan Harris: $1.75 million****
INF, Matt Tolbert: $425,000*
C, Drew Butera: $420,000*
C, Jose Morales: $420,000*
OF, Jason Repko: $700,000*
Total (5 bench players): $3,715,000

ROTATION
1. Francisco Liriano: $4 million**
2. Scott Baker: $5 million
3. Brian Duensing: $450,000*
4: Nick Blackburn: $3 million
5. Kevin Slowey: $3 million**
Total (5 starters): $15,450,000

BULLPEN
Joe Nathan: $11.25 million
Matt Capps: $6 million**
Jose Mijares: $470,000*
Pat Neshek: $650,000**
Glen Perkins: $750,000**
Alex Burnett: $415,000*
Total: (6 relievers): $19,535,000

PROJECTED 25-MAN TOTAL: $105,470,000

* Estimate: 0-3 years MLB service
** Estimate:arbitration eligible
*** Assumes team picks up 2011 option.
**** Salary guaranteed despite finishing 2010 in minors.

FREE AGENTS (2010 SALARY)
Clay Condrey: $900,000
Jesse Crain: $2 million
Randy Flores: $650,000
Brian Fuentes: $9 million
Matt Guerrier: $3.15 million
Orlando Hudson: $5 million
Ron Mahay: $800,000
Carl Pavano: $8 million
*Nick Punto: $4 million
Jon Rauch: $2.9 million
Jim Thome $1.7 million
* Twins are expected to decline his $5 million option.

My suggestion:s for 2011: That's a blog for a different day...

The Baby Name Game

Now that we are hypothetically finished having children I thought it'd be fun to share with everyone the names that we considered for each of the kids.  The order that the names are listed is the order that we had them ranked heading to the hospital but we were open to either name depending on appearance, delivery, etc.

Had Natalie been a boy, she would've been Logan Matthew.  If he was born on May 31st (the birthday of Gina's grandpa) then he would have been Logan Matthew William.  For years, I wanted to name my first son Logan.  Had we gone with Ava we would've gone with Jo for the middle name.

Had Macie been a boy, she'd have probably been Owen Michael.  For a girl, whether it would have been Macie or Greta the middle name was going to be Jo.



Had Evie been a boy, based on her dark hair she'd have been Crosby William.  Had she had light colored hair she would have been Oliver William or Anna Marie.

I've been missing my grandma lately

I've really been missing my Grandma K. lately.

I don't know how else to put into words what I am feeling other than that.

Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure part of why it's been stronger than normal lately was Evie's baptism last weekend.  I really wish she could have met Evie.

While thinking about her I have been recalling many of my favorite stories, one of which I wanted to share.

Simply put, my grandma was an amazing person.  I'm so grateful she was around as long as she was.

One thing you learned about my grandma as you spent more time with her though was that she definitely had an opinion about a lot of different things.  She was amazingly sweet, but she also wasn't afraid to let you know how she felt on different topics either.  Personally, I loved that about her.

Here is an example of something that makes me happy every time I think about it.

Gina and I received many cards from my grandma and grandpa over the years.  Usually, besides the card there were comic strips in it about one thing or another.  Many times my grandma would write on them to help signify who she was thinking of in the strip so that we would understand why she sent it to us.

Her favorite after Natalie was born was Dog Eat Doug.  I loved getting cards from grandma and grandpa around that time on particular, in part just to see which comic strips my grandma had cut out to share with us.  Here is an example of what they'd look like.

My favorite cutout of all time though was sent to us sometime during Gina's pregnancy with Natalie.  Inside the card, a thoughtful cutout was placed by my grandma of the top ten boys and girls names of 2004.  The funny part was what my grandma did with it.  It was so perfect for her.  In her own subtle way, she wanted to make sure we knew which name(s) on the list she didn't care for that much so the cutout was sent looking something like this:

How can you not love that?

I miss her so much.  I am thankful for memories I have of her like this which put a smile on my face.

It was time

Last month (on July 26th), I parked on Como Avenue in the morning near our old stomping grounds at 2004. I had an appointment out that way after work and it made the most sense to make the commute there in the morning instead of trying to deal with traffic later.

I made the appointment a few weeks in advance so I had time to think about the significance of the area I was going to be in. Fate had not led me there since December 19, 2007.  However, I knew the nearest intersection to where Rory took his life so it was just a matter of time before I went.

I’d been meaning to make my way over there since shortly after everything happened. At first, I held off because I felt like it would be a little too emotional for me to deal with (and Gina insisted that I did not go alone). She had/has no interest in visiting the tracks but she was willing to ride along and stay in the car so that someone would be there with me, if nothing else.

That didn’t seem fair to her, so in 2008 I spoke with Mess about going with me. We never came to any resolution on it other than I felt like he wasn’t opposed to the idea but he wasn’t necessarily itching to go either. As time passed, my need to go in the immediate future dwindled and I never brought it up with him again.

As the day approached, I got a little anxious a few times but just as quickly as I felt something, it’d pass. I knew I was going to go and I made the decision not to tell Gina. I wasn’t trying to hide anything by not mentioning it to her; I just didn’t want to put any more significance on the moment than it would already have.

After being dropped off by the bus, I got in my car and drove to where I though the spot was. It didn’t seem right so I drove around the immediate area for a while trying to find where the tracks led and if there was a more logical location. I’m not sure why I did that. I knew the intersection, there was no arguing that, so I went back and parked just down the hill from the tracks.

A few things stood out to me immediately:

1. The area looked nothing like how I pictured it in my head. Most of us know the general story as to what transpired that day and I had tried to imagine the type of location Rory would choose to commit suicide. It felt right to me, it just didn’t necessarily look right.

2. I didn't realize how close it was to 2004 Como. In fact, it is only one city block from it. For years, whenever we went to and from the Quarry, we were feet from where he did it. In the three years I lived on Como I never once drove over the tracks there. I always made the turn away from them. We heard the trains all the time but I don’t even recall knowing the tracks were that close to us.  That fact is so ironic to me since Rory made the decision to do it there for very specific reasons. I don’t know what those reasons were, but it’s not the type of decision he’d make randomly. I wonder how many times he went there knowing that someday it'd be the spot where he'd do it.

3. I wasn’t expecting anything to be there and, as expected, there was nothing around that defined the location as significant. I was happy about that. For the average passerby, it is just another stretch of track like anywhere else.

After trying to absorb what I was seeing, I walked up and down the tracks for a while. I looked around at all the different nooks and crannies nearby, attempting to figure out exactly how/where he did it. It was something I needed to do.

Once I had done that, I took a few pictures and grabbed a piece of a railroad tie that was lying next to the tracks. I am not sure what I will do with it. In fact, I haven’t taken it out of my car yet for that very reason.

Just before I was planning to take off, a train came. I was not expecting that and had not mentally prepared for the chance of it happening. My instinct was to leave but I convinced myself it was for the best to stay. It took a couple of minutes to get to me and as it approached I stood about 20 feet away (I’d never been that close to a train before) and watched it slowly roll over the tracks car by car. I think seeing the train there was a good thing because I was able to understand the finality of the decision Rory made. If he executed his plan, there was no chance for survival. That was easy to see.

Once the train passed, I stayed a little longer and then left. All said and done, I spent about a half an hour there. Looking back, I still feel like it was something I needed to do. I am more at peace with portions of what happened there on the 19th now. I don’t see myself going out of my way to get over there again yet I am all but certain that I will visit on occasion in the future.

To end this post I just want to say that while unexpected, I felt comforted at the tracks because it was where Rory chose to take his life. It was not something that I anticipated feeling before I went.

From Careful by Paramore:

"The truth never set me free
 The truth never set me free
 The truth never set me free
 So I'll do it myself"

If you get a chance, I would suggest listening to the entire song. I know it's not about suicide, but there is so much in it that makes me think of Rory.

Nice work Target Field

Gluten-Free Options

Angie's Kettle Corn - Sold on Target Plaza and vended in the stands

Farmers market - Section 141
 ~ Whole fruit
 ~ Carrots with Ranch dipping sauce
 ~ Gluten Free Nut snacks

Veggie Kabobs - Section 133

Shrimp Skewers - Section 133

Turkey Leg - Sections 133,311

Pork Chop on a stick - Section 133

Fruichi Smoothies - Vended in the stands

Talenti Gelato - Sections 141, 302

Red bridge Beer - Sections 116, 124, 325

Bunless Grilled chicken - available throughout Target Field

Bunless Hot Dogs - available throughout Target Field
 ~ Twins Big Dog
 ~ The Original Twins Dog
 ~ The Dinger Dog
 ~ The Dugout Dog - Vended in the stands

A wonderful addition

Welcome to the world Easton (Nick and Carrie's son born on July 25th).  With pipes like that, I give it about five months before you'll be able to beat me up.

A bittersweet symphony

Here are 40 random observations from the last week or so:

• When Evie was born, her right hand was next to her face. So, Gina unfortunately had to do a little extra work to get her out. Thank you epidural.

• Evie is pronounced ee-vee (just like saying the letters e and v together) and not ev-ee. We weren't expecting to need to clarify that when we chose it but in retrospect I can completely understand why it's been a bit confusing for everyone. We panicked a bit when everyone was mispronouncing it but we both still love it.

• Gina has said she is still in a fair amount of pain but looking at her you can't tell. She looks great! She's also been pretty sassy since just after Evie's birth which is definitely a good sign.

• Gina's labor was pretty interesting. I don't know when it officially started but on June 19th we spent the night at St. Joe's because she was contracting and things never really stopped from there. There were breaks where nothing was happening but then it would pick up again shortly thereafter. I think Gina plans to post about the days leading up to Evie's birth so I'll leave that story for her.

• We thought that Evie was constantly awake in Gina's stomach but it turns out that the girl is moving her hands and feet all the time, even when she is sleeping.

• The title of the blog simply refers to Evie being our last child. It's relieving yet very sad all at the same time. I hold her sometimes and think about how I'll never hold my two day old / three day old / etc. son or daughter ever again.

• Leaving St. Joe's was very difficult for both Gina and I to do. We have felt so loved there with the birth of all three girls. It's an amazing place to deliver a child. We were able to see many of the nurses that were involved in Natalie and Macie's first few days and were also able to make a couple of new connections, especially with Jessica. She was with us all day on Thursday (the 24th) and was absolutely wonderful.

• Evie will always be considered a preemie. It seems weird to say because she is doing fantastic. But, she was born at 36 weeks and six days (one day short of being considered full term).

• Preemie's need to have a number of extra tests done on them before leaving the hospital. All of the results came back very positive. The only thing they noticed was that she has extra red blood cells because her liver is premature. It is just something to note and not uncommon in preemies. It isn't anything to worry about.

• Evie was given the full ballard test because she was a preemie. Full term babies only have a partial test done. With the test, they do things like count the creases in the newborn’s foot to confirm that the due date of the child was correct. Sure enough, Evie's score came back placing Gina between 36 and 37 weeks along.

• Most of you who will read this post already know about how interesting this pregnancy was for Gina. It began with a subchorionic hemorrhage on December 21st and the discussion of potentially doing a DNC. But, as we all know now, Evie and Gina are both fighters and with a lot of love, prayers and support everything turned out just fine. We are grateful in so many ways.

• Because of everything Evie went through, our pastor has dubbed her "el milagro." It means the miracle.

• Furthering that point, Evie means life. While we already loved the name that definitely added to why we decided on it for her.

• In 2009, Evie was the 723rd most popular name for girls in the U.S. One in approximately every 5,000 girls were given that name last year. I don't expect for her to ever need to go by Evie S. because there are too many Evie's in her class. However, it surprisingly was the 10th most common girls name in the U.K. in 2008.

• We definitely considered the name Rory (both for a boy or girl) as a first name but in the end decided that it just didn't feel quite right. We also looked at possibly using it for a middle name instead.

• Where did the name Evie come from? Gina liked it more than I did originally. Most directly, it is Natalie Portman's character in V for Vendetta. In the movie she spells it Evey. I wasn't convinced it could stand on it's own as a first name until I saw the movie. After seeing it, I knew it was a strong enough name and began falling in love with it.

• For the first time, I had the final decision on the name. It was far more stressful than I thought it would be. I should have probably held my tongue with Gina and let her deal with that pressure (I joked about never having the final say even though I would have picked Natalie and Macie as well). You live and learn I guess.

• Evie's announcement was finished on Wednesday.

• Congratulations to Susan (a co-worker of Gina's) for winning the expectnet.com guessing game that 60 people participated in.

• Evie decided to buck a number of trends. All of the milestone dates in our life fall on another date of significance (generally tied to the Gina's side of the family). But, there is nothing on June 24th that we are aware of. Had she waited one more day she would have been born on my Grandpa S's birthday and my Grandma and Grandpa K's wedding anniversary.

• Evie was born on a Thursday. Both of the other girls were born on Tuesday.

• Evie was born in room 2528 (what use to be room 205). Both of the other girls were born in room 201.

• Sleeping or awake, Evie is constantly making sounds with her mouth. It is so funny to listen to.

• I think people at church were surprised to see us at the musical on June 27th (with Evie). We didn't want to miss it. Not only was it well written, but Natalie and Macie were absolutely adorable in it.

• The middle name of Marie is in honor of Gina (it is her middle name as well). It is also her mom and grandma's middle name too.

• Even though she was a preemie, Evie was born with a higher birth weight than Macie was. Evie was 6lbs 7ozs and Macie was 6lbs 3ozs (Natalie was 7lbs 12ozs). For those who are wondering, Natalie was three days late and Macie was one week early.

• Evie is on a very positive weigh path so far. She left the hospital at 6lbs 2ozs on Saturday, was 6lbs 1oz at her in home visit on Monday and 6lbs 4ozs at her doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Seeing her weight begin to increase already is a very good thing.

• If you want to see a crazy picture, click on the one below and check it out. It's pretty hard to dispute whether or not these three are sisters.

• We call Evie a treefrog because of how she curls up on your body when you hold her upright.

• Years later, JoAnn's prophecy that Gina would have three girls has been fulfilled.  Gina and I were laughing (and crying) when we figured out that we had yet another girl. We would have definitely enjoyed having a boy but we are pretty excited to be a family of girls.

• Thanks again to my mom (Wednesday and Thursday) and Molly (Friday) for taking care of the girls for us while we were at the hospital.

• Thank you to everyone who has visited us at the hospital (and at home). It's been great seeing all of you.

• Both Natalie and Macie have been so great with Evie. They are going to be amazing big sisters. Right now, they want to hold her and spend as much time around her as they can.

• It was pretty cute on Thursday night (the 24th), when Natalie was around Evie she couldn't stop giggling.

• At first, Macie kept asking "where's my baby?" after we got home from the hospital because she couldn't remember Evie's name. Natalie took a little while to remember it as well.

• Both girls love to push on Gina's belly and tell her that it is squishy now.

• We've had great doctors with all three of our children (and have been blessed that each of them have been there to deliver our babies). I must say though, Dr. Kelly was absolutely the perfect doctor for us this time. Since December, she has been exactly what Gina has needed. We are both so thankful for everything she (and the clinic) has done for us the last six months.

• We love Target. Well, we sort of do. We have been there almost every day since leaving the hospital. If it's not one thing it's another. It's great to have a one stop shop for things but we feel a little to dependent on the place right now.

• Speaking of Target, three and a half years is a bit longer than we thought between kids. We are going to be replacing a few more baby items (bottles for example) than we were planning on.

• The summer of the babies is underway...we are already looking forward to Carrie and Nick (due July 29), Matt and Morgan (August 22), and Becky and Eric (September 5) having babies in the near future as well!

Pedroia commerical

Here is a good commercial about my favorite player:

Somebody loves me

Gina recently bought me this jersey because she was able to get an authentic one for a great deal.  It's sweet.  It's the old school 1961 Twins replica jersey that the team wears for some of their Saturday home games.  Had there been other options, I probably would have picked someone other than Mauer but I definitely still love the jersey and with his recent contract agreement if he stays healthy the jersey will be retired by the Twins someday so it will be one that I can always wear.  Thanks G!

Songs in the key of moo

Natalie and I are getting ready this morning for a field trip to see "Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type" at the Stages Theatre in Hopkins. It's a field trip through her school that I am helping chaperone. It's one of my favorite children's books so I am looking forward to it. Natalie is also very excited that I am going with, it kind of melts your heart. I'll chalk it up to reason 53,891 why I love being a parent.