THROWING YOU A CURVE
April 14, 2004

TWINS START 2004 SEASON – OUCH!

As I write this, the Twins are 4-4 on the season.

Being an avid golfer, I look at the first week for the Minnesota Twins and I know some of the players would like to have a mulligan. In golf, a mulligan is used when you don’t like the shot you just hit, so you use a mulligan to try and do better. A mulligan is usually used in scramble tournaments where money is raised for charity and you can buy this mulligan and use it for your team throughout the round. Of course, if you play golf the right way, you know you can never use a mulligan throughout your round where you play your own ball.

There were many times when I was pitching I would have liked a mulligan. All I ever received in return was a new ball or a manager coming out to my mound and telling me I had to leave.

Ask Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, Matthew LeCroy, Grant Balfour and now Brad Thomas if they would like to start the season over. Would they like to have a mulligan? Of course they would but they can’t, can they? Spending time on the disabled list is not what any player wants.

Mauer is out with a torn ligament in his left knee, where he had arthroscopic surgery, and is hoping to return by early May. Hunter, who was slowed by a left hamstring strain along with LeCroy, who has a muscle pull in his right rib cage area, could be back in the lineup around the 22nd of this month. Balfour came North with the team, after making the team out of spring training, with a sore right shoulder. He didn't inform the team of his soreness until the day before the season started, April 5, and is currently back in Ft. Myers, Florida, mending his shoulder.

As for Thomas, he just didn't pitch well. The Twins saw the lefthander as a future fifth starter but he was put in the bullpen to start the season because of some off days. He pitched twice and didn't fare well. When Terry Mulholland, a 41-year-old, seasoned veteran became available, the Twins signed him and sent Thomas back to the minor leagues. Brad is out of options and has a chance to become a free agent if he chooses.

After winning two of their first three games of the season, the team went into their first road trip looking at a lineup that was missing three of their everyday players. Injuries to everyday starters mean that players who are waiting for an opportunity to start now have a chance to show what they can do. Some baseball people call these players bench players, but I know that without these reserves or these bench players, a team can not be successful throughout the long baseball season.

Already Jose Offerman has shown that he wants to be a star again. The two-time All-Star, who played last season in an Independent League, has been swinging the bat great and is off to a hot start. Henry Blanco, signing with the Twins over the winter to be the back-up catcher to Joe Mauer, now finds himself the everyday catcher. How does he respond? Two homeruns in one game while the team was in Detroit and a 4-for-4 night, a career high in hits in a game, with a home run in Cleveland.

Lew Ford, who almost made the team coming out of Spring Training, is filling in for Torii Hunter in center and has done a great job. This guy can hit and has great speed.

The Twins historically have always had a very good minor league system. It has really come into the forefront over the past five or six years. Just look at the 25 man roster and you will see that more than half of the players came through the Twins system. In baseball today, there are so many other clubs trying to model their own minor league systems like the Twins.

A lot of credit has to go to Terry Ryan, Vice President, General Manager; Bill Smith, Vice President, Assistant General Manager; Jim Rantz, Director of Minor League Operations; Mike Radcliff, Director of Scouting; and Rob Anthony, Director of Baseball Operations. There are so many others, too, like all of the coaches, the scouts and everyone else that is involved with the minor league system. All of their time has made the Twins farm system the envy of the Major and Minor Leagues.

If you are a Twins fan, let's hope that the players on the disabled list come back healthy and help the team win their third consecutive Division title. Until they do, its good to know that the Twins organization can keep bringing up young talented players to fill their roles until they do come back.

I want to personally thank everyone that donated some money to my "Birthday Bash" at the Dome on MY BIRTHDAY, April 6. With your help we were able to raise more than $1,000 for the Parkinson’s Association of Minnesota.

Thank you for reading my first column of the season.

Be good to each other and remember that you can become the person you want to be with positive thoughts. Work hard in life and it will reward you.

Your baseball friend,
Bert Blyleven