Miracle lose pitchers' duel, 3-2

Fort Myers 2 at Lakeland 3

Record 13 - 10

W: J. Nickerson (2-2, 6.12); L: M. Fox (1-1, 4.05); SV: E. Clelland (2)
HR: None.

The Miracle lost their third straight game, scoring late and failing to catch up with the Lakeland Flying Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Kevin Slowey worked 5 hitless innings of ball, allowing only 1 walk while striking out 5 and appeared about ready to head up to the Twins. Matt Fox would come on in relief, and the Tigers hounded him for three runs on three hits and 1 walk. He struck out 2 in 2 innings worth of work.

A fielding error by Danny Valencia allowed Brandon Timm to reach in the bottom of the 3rd. A sac bunt by Jeff Kunkel would move Timm to second. A second fielding error by Valencia put Cale Iorg on base. Justin Justice then doubled the pair in. Scott Sizemore would strike out swinging and Justice would be caught stealing 3rd to end the inning.

Brennan Boesch singled out to left, and then moved to 2nd on a passed ball by Miracle catcher Wilson Ramos. A Jeramy Laster single allowed Boesch to score what would prove to be the game winning run.

Jonah Nickerson would work 7.1 innings for the Tigers and he looked like a totally different pitcher than the one the Miracle faced last Monday. Nickerson kept the Miracle off the board through 7 innings and held them to only 2 hits while striking out 4.

Johnny Woodard and Ramos would both single off him in the top of the 8th, before he hit his pitch count and was replaced by Angel Castro. Whit Robbins then tripled in the pair, but that was all the Miracle would see off the Tigers' pitching staff.

For the Miracle, it was a game with more strike outs then hits, with Woodard getting 2 K's and Valencia, Ramos, Danny Santiesteban and Eddie Ovalle picking up one each.

The two teams rematch tomorrow for a 1:00 PM start, with Fort Myers' Deolis Guerra (2-0, 1.42) opposing Lakeland's Matt O'Brien (1-0, 4.32) on the mound.

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Over in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Beloit Snappers and Wisconsin Timber Rattlers split a double header. David Bromberg picked up the win in game one as the Snappers came out on top, 6-5. Bromberg would allow 5 runs, all earned, on 9 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5 through 5 innings worth of work. All five runs came in the first two innings. The Snappers bats were up the task though, with Steve Singleton going 3-for-4 at the plate with a run and 2 RBIs, catcher Jair Fernandez going 3-for-3 with 2 runs and 1 RBI and designated hitter Ben Petsch going 2-for-2 with 1 run and 2 RBIs. (Boxscore)

The Snappers bats were silent in game two however, with Donald Hume limiting Beloit to 3 hits through 4 innings and Phillippe Aumont giving up only 1 hit through 3. Both struck out 2 and walked 1. Joe Benson was 2-f0r3 at the plate. Mike Tarsi lost his 5th game of the season, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. (Boxscore)

Steve Tolleson hit his 2nd home run of the season as the New Britain Rock Cats downed the Trenton Thunder 7-4 in a 12 inning contest. Tolleson was 3-for-6 at the plate with two runs and 3 RBIs. Brock Peterson and Matt Moses were also 3-for-6 in the contest, both with one run and Peterson with 1 RBI as well. Trevor Plouffe was 2-for-6 with a run and David Winfree was 2-for-7 with 1 RBI. Danny Graves picked up the win, working 1.1 innings worth of relief. (Boxscore)

In Triple A action, Rochester blanked the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs 10-0. Glen Perkins picked up the win while former Miracle J.D. Durbin suffered his 5th loss of the season and saw his ERA raise to 9.51. Randy Ruiz, Chris Basak and Jose Morales were all 3-for-5 at the plate, Ruiz with 2 runs, and Basak with 1, while Morales and Ruiz had 1 RBI each. Jason Pridie was 3-for-6 with 1 run and 1 RBI, extending his hitting streak while Howie Clark was 2-for-5 with 1 run and 4 RBIs. (Boxscore)

Former Miracle Errol Simonitsch took a rehab stint with the GCL Twins in extended spring training. The Twins slaughtered the GCL Pirates 10-2. Simo allowed a triple and walk but struck out 2 over 2 innings, facing only 9 batters. First baseman Jon Waltenbury was 3-for-3 at the plate with 2 runs, including a triple in the sixth inning. Catcher Danny Rohlfing was 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles, 1 run and 1 RBI. The game also included rehab appearances by pitcher Mike Allen and former Miracle Jose Leger.

Miracle devour Tigers, 10 - 4

Lakeland 4 at Fort Myers 10

Record 11 - 7

W: D. Guerra (2-0, 1.42); L: J. Nickerson (1-2, 7.64)
HR: LAK: J. Laster (3), J. Justice (2). FTM: J. Woodard (4).

A grand slam home run by Johnny Woodard in the 3rd inning started out a night that ended up in 15 hits and 10 runs for the Fort Myers Miracle.

Minnesota Twins righty Kevin Slowey took the start for the Miracle, allowing 1 run on 1 hit when Jeremy Laster went yard in the second inning on him. He would strike out 5 otherwise over 3 innings worth of work before giving way to Deolis Guerra who would be credited with the win.

Fort Myers took an early lead in the 1st when Rene Tosoni, Danny Valencia and Woodard all recorded singles, which brought Tosoni in for the first run. After the Tigers tied it up in the 2nd, Whit Robbins drew a walk in the bottom of the inning. A Danny Santiesteban single would bring Robbins in, in part due to a throwing error by Lakeland firstbaseman Pedro Cotto. Tiger's third baseman Michael Bertram was run over by Robbins during the play, but was able to continue the game after a brief delay.

Brian Dinkelman and Tosoni had both recorded singles in the 3rd and Valencia drew a walk, loading the bases for Woodard's mamoth hit, that jumped the right field fence to make it 6-1 Miracle.

Lakeland took one run back in the top of the 4th when Michael Bertram doubled and Jeramy Laster singled. Pedro Cotto would reach on what was called a fielder's choice after Woodard dropped the ball, twice, at first base allowing Bertram to score.

The game would settle down until the top of the 7th, when Luis Ott would draw a walk off Guerra. Justin Justice then went deep over the right field fence to score 2.

The Miracle were undaunted however, as Dinkelman drew a walk in the bottom of the 7th, then stole 2nd base. Rene Tosoni would bring him in on a ground ball to center.

With Nicholas Martin on the mound for the bottom of the 8th and 2 outs, Toby Gardenhire would single. Dinkleman and Tosoni followed suite to bring in Gardenhire. Valencia then brought in Dinkelman with a line drive to center. After Woodard was hit by a pitch, Martin would be done, with Brendan Wise coming in from the Lakeland bullpen to finish up. Edward Ovalle singled off of him to drive in Tosoni before Wilson Ramos ground into a force out to end the Miracle offense.

Tim Lahey, who is getting a look at some live hitters before being reassigned to Rochester, finished off the game, setting three Lakeland batters down in order.

Tosoni was 4-for-5 in game with 3 runs and 2 RBIs. Valencia was 3-for-4 with a run and 1 RBI while Dinkleman, Woodard and Ovalle were all 2-for-4. Woodard's grand slam gave him 5 RBIs in the game, Dinkleman had 3 runs and walk and Ovalle had a walk and 1 RBI. Ramos, who went 0-for-5, saw his batting average drop to .189.

The Miracle look for a sweep tonight, sending lefty Tyler Robertson (0-1, 2.57) to the hill against right-hander Matt O'Brien (1-0, 3.86).

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Take I-75 North

The Snappers fell to the West Michigan Whitecaps 2-1 Monday night (Boxscore). Deibinson Romero had a single shot home run in the 5th inning for the Twins Low A farm team. Shortstop Chris Cates was 2-for-3 in the game, but the Tampa, Florida, native did not figure into the scoring.

Reading fell to the New Britain Rock Cats, 5-2. Former Miracle 1st baseman Brock Peterson was 2-for-3 with a walk, a pair of doubles and a run for the Cats while Luke Hughes and Trevor Plouffe were both 2-for-4, Hughes with 1 run and 1 RBI on a single shot home run. Former Miracle Erik Lis also went yard, bringing in 2 RBIs (Boxscore). Armando Gabino picked up the win in relief of starter Anthony Swarzak, who gave up 2 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks while striking out 6 over only 4 innings.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shut out the Rochester Red Wings for the second straight game. Jason Pridie and Jose Morales had the only hits for the Wings who cold against Yankees starter Darrell Rasner (Boxscore). Glen Perkins suffered the loss, the former Miracle gave up 1 run on six hits and 2 walks while striking out 2 over 5 innings worth of play.

Tigres double up Navegantes, 10-5

Magallanes 5 at Aragua 10

W: K. Middleton (2-0, 1.71); L: C. Hernandez (1-2, 5.40)
HR: MAG: E. Alfonzo (1), E. Andrus (1).

The defending Venezuelan Winter League Champion Tigres de Aragua put four runs on the board in the 2nd inning and continued to pound out runs against los Navegantes del Magallenes, finishing off with a 10-5 victory over the visiting team.

Mike Aviles (Kansas City) tripled to get things started in the 2nd, followed by Ruben Salazar (F/A) taking a walk to first. Raul Chavez (NY Yankees) singled out to left to plate Aviles. Luis Maza (LA Dodgers) then singled to load up the bases. Willie Romero's (F/A) double cleared them out again, although Maza was taken out at home plate. Still the three runs were worrysome to the Navegantes who brought Jose Rodriguez (Houston) into the game to replace Carlos Hernandez (F/A) on mound. No worries for the Tigres though, as Jose Martinez (St Louis) singled to score Romero. Jesus Feliciano (NY Mets) hit into a double play to end the inning.

The Navigators took one back in the top of the 3rd when former Miracle Erold Andrus (Tampa Bay) homered off starter Kyle Middleton (Houston). Middleton went on to work 5.1 innings, allowing 3 runs (all earned) on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3.

Salazar would reach in the bottom of the fourth on a fielding error by former Miracle Jesus Merchan (Philadelphia). Chavez then doubled, but Salazar would not go home until Martinez it into a ground out after Romero was intentionally walked.

Aragua added to their lead in the 5th, when former Rochester middle infielder Luis Rodriguez (San Diego) and Ronny Cedeno (Chicago Cubs) both singled their way onto base. Aviles would fly out and Salazar would strike out, before a Chavez singled scored the pair.

Middleton got into trouble in the 6th, when he walked Andrus, and then allowed a home run to Edgardo Alfanzo (F/A). He got Marcos Vechionacci (NY Yankees) out on strikes but allowed Richard Hildago (F/A) to double. That would finish it up for Middleton, as Yohan Pino (Minnesota) came out to the mound. Pino got Mark Saccomanno (Houston) out on strikes, while a Luke Scott (Houston) fly out retired the side.

The Tigers were not distressed though, As Feliciano singled, and Rogriguez walked his way onto the bags. A wild pitch by Jean Machi (Toronto) moved the pair. He'd strike out Cedeno, then walked Aviles to get at Salazer. Aragua inserted Alex Nunez (F/A) into the game as a pinch hitter though, and his ground ball single brough in Feliciano. The Navigators then brought Jim Magrane (Washington) onto the mound. He'd walk Chavez to force in run before taking Maza out on strikes.

Pino would walk Jorge Cortes (Chicago Cubs) in the top of the 7th, but Cortez ended up stranded at 2nd at the end of the inning.

Aragua's offense continued to roar however, as Romero scored off a Rodriguez single.

Rochester's Bobby Korecky (Minnesota) replaced Pino for the top of the 8th inning, allowing Singles to Richard Hidalgo (F/A) and Scott, before Cortes would double the pair in. However, Hector Gimenez (Houston) ground out to end the inning, and the scoring, as Francisco Butto (F/A) allowed only a single in the 9th before sending Magallanes back to the dugout.

Aragua plays a pair against LaGuaira on Thursday and Friday at 7:30 PM AST before returning home to face Caracas on Saturday at 5:30 PM AST.

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Brian Buscher was named the Twins Minor League player of the year for 2007, while former Miracle starter Kevin Slowey earned the 2007 Twins Minor League Pitcher of the year honors.

Buscher had 21 runs on 41 hits in 40 games (132 at bats) for the Rochester Red Wings. He earned his promotion mid-season from New Britain, after batting .308 (37 runs, 76 hits, 247 at bats) while knocking in 37 runs in AA. Buscher was selected by the Twins in the minor league protion of the 2006 Rule V draft. He played previously in the San Francisco Giants organization.

A Jacksonville, Florida, native, Buscher has a .275 average with the Tigres, with 7 runs on 11 hits in 11 games (40 at bats) while batting in 1 during the first 2 weeks of the season feline.

Slowey posted a 10-5 record for the Wings, with a 1.89 ERA, allowing 31 runs on 110 hits in 133.2 innings pitched through 20 games. Slowey allowed only 4 home runs and walked only 18 batters during 20 appearances with Rochester in 2007.

Spring!

"You can't wear that hat," John says.

I pull my Miracle hat off my head and look at it. "What's wrong with this hat?"

"No Miracle stuff at spring training. They want you to wear Twins Cities stuff only."

"Yeah, at least until 4:00," Chuck chimes in helpfully.

I shrug. "I'm not on the Twins payroll," I point out. "I can wear any hat I want. I can even where my Everblades hat if it pleases me.

"Where is my Mike Cudyer bat?"

"They don't make them," John says.

"Yes, they do, and Skippy was going to get me one."

"Skippy left," he says helpfully.

"I know. Probably out of fear of reprecussions for not get me a Mike Cudyer bat."

Ah...the joys of start of Spring Training. There is grass on the berm. Not all of the seats are in yet. You can jump off the patio into the trash compactor there is no fence there yet. They were bolting green padding onto the walls even as the players were taking the field.

As always, it's a bit of a three ring circus and I can't be at all the rings at the same time. This bothers me.

"I need to be cloned," I tell one of my friends.

"You need a posse," he counters as he attempts to stop his six year old from braining another kid with an aluminum bat.

Players running back and forth, especially Santana who seemed to be trying to run over as many people as possible; a long term game of "Find Frankie" which was not proving difficult, just follow the autograph seekers; kids saying "Mister, can I have an autograph," even when they don't know who the "mister" in question is.

Corey turns one kid down with a "later". He seems unhappy with that. "But I said 'sir'". Another kid is on his cell phone telling everyone back home in Minnesota that "Joe Mauer flipped me a ball!"

I find Kevin Slowey. I lose Kevin Slowey. Anna finds me.

"Where's Santana?"

"That field I think," pointing to the one behind my back as I try to find Slowey again. "Just look for the path of mown down people."

"Where's Torri Hunter?"

Dear god, I can't even find my boys and she wants me to keep track of her boys too?

"Where's you son?" I counter.

"Over there, why don't you take a picture of him?"

"I already did, he's in the second base cluster shot."

"Oh..."

I found Justin Morneau in the batting cage, first thing. This saved him from having to find me. I found Justin, my season ticket rep, in the gift shop. I told him where I wanted to sit, he told me he'd see what's available and get back with me. I had to rearrange my initial idea because they've moved the netting.

I find Slowey again the bullpen.

"Kevin, I need an autograph."

"Yeah, okay, after we're done." Except he snuck out through the dugout while I was trying to change film. I really need to get a digital.

I think the autograph seekers who are taking whoever they ran into instead of trying to get the guys they wanted were having better luck. I mean given that the same four guys were chasing Frankie around the whole time...

The weather was a nice sunny 82 degrees, if was amusing talking to everyone again, and I guess I did rather enjoy tailing Slowey all over the park.

Ah well...

In any case...Pictures, pictures, pictures:

American League MVP

How many second basemen do we need on this team?

Carlos Silva

Catching prospect Jose Morales

The Real Deal, whose new spring training job appears to be driving Francisco Liriano around in the golf cart.

Batting practice with Joe Mauer

Found! Kevin Slowey

You left me home alone to go to spring training?

Duh!

Twins prospects receive season ending honors

Several of the Twins prospects were named to the Minor League season end All-star teams as reported by Baseball America.

Danny Hernandez, who spent the season with the Appalachian League Elizabethton Twins was named to the Rookie team.

1st baseman Eric Lis and pitcher Yohan Pino were both named to the Low A team, Kevin Slowey was named to the High A team and Pat Neshak made the AAA All-star team.

Slowey was also named to the Overall Second All-Star team, while pitcher Matt Garza was named to the Overall First All-star team.

Hernandez was 1-1 with 18 saves, with a 3.81 ERA and issued only 9 walks in 28 innings pitched. There is no doubt that Hernandez has earned a promotion to Beloit, and if he keeps up the sterling work, he could well make it to High A ball by mid-season of 2007.

Pino has gone 6-0 with a 1.67 ERA in 21 games of relief in Venezuelan Winter Ball this year. He struck out 23 batters, and allowed just 16 hits in 27 innings of work. While with the Snappers in 2006, Pino had a 14-2 record with a 1.91 ERA. In 121 combined innings between the Midwest League and the Venezuelan Winter League he has a 1.86 ERA with 122 strikeouts and has a 20-2 record.

With Barry Zito's signing by the Giants being cited as the sort of money two time Cy Young winner Johan Santana can expect to earn once he makes it to free agency in 2008, many prospect watchers are considering Pino to take over his place on the Twins roster. Pino will start the 2007 season with High A Fort Myers, but expect him to get on the fast track through the minors.

Lis hit .326 with the Snappers in 2006, including 16 home runs will bringing in 70 runs. He scored 69 runs during the year for Beloit, with 4 stolen bases. Lis looked impressive in Fall Instructional as well, and is well suited to take over for Brock Peterson as a Miracle corner man.

There's little I can say about Slowey that I haven't already said. He spent the first half of the year with the Miracle, record a 4-2 record with a 1.01 ERA and issued only 9 walks in 89 innings pitched. He struggled a bit originally in AA, and ended up with a 4-3 record, a 3.19 ERA and 13 walks in 59.1 innings pitched. He struck out 151 batters between Fort Myers and New Britain, 3 less than Garza's total, and about 6th overall in minor league baseball. Slowey is expected to start the season in AAA Rochester, but might well find a way onto the Twins pitching staff before the season is over.

Neshak made the Twins roster by the end of the season. He posted a 6-2 record with 14 saves in Rochester, a 1.95 era and allowed 14 walks over 60 innings. There's no doubt that he'll become a staple in the Twins bullpen for the coming year.

Garza sped through the minor league system, posting a combined 14-4 record with a 1.99 ERA between Fort Myers, New Britain and Rochester. Following a shakey first outing with the Twins near the end of the season, Garza seems to have solidified. He'll be looked at for a place in the Twins rotation for 2007, a rotation that will need some solid arms following Francisco Liriano's Tommy John surgery and the Brad Radke's retirement.

Not picked for an All-star team was pitcher Oswaldo Sosa, but much like Pino, he's been having an outstanding winter season over in Venezuela. Sosa is 5-0 with a 2.30 ERA in the Winter League. He went 9-7 for the Snappers with a 2.75 ERA. Sosa struck out 95 batters in 117.2 innings for Beloit. He earned a promotion to the Ft. Myers Miracle last season where he went 4-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Sosa, who pitched 34.2 innings for the Miracle in 2006, may start the season in Double A. Certainly, he'll be given a look with consideration for moving him that pitching staff.

Although major league pitchers and catchers don't report for spring training for another 41 days, one notable catcher, Joe Mauer, is in Fort Myers, going through Winter workouts. Mauer is a resident of Fort Myers, were he is less known than he is in the Twin Cities and does not attract a crowd when he goes out. Twins short stop Jason Bartlett is also among the players, getting into early work outs down at the Lee County Sportsplex.

"There’s something driving these players, the fact that they’ve been to the playoffs and they haven’t been to the big game," former Miracle coach and current director of Latin American development Jose Marzan said of the players that are in town early during a recent article in the Fort Myers News Press. "The guys are here early because they want to get ready for the season. It’s not only for individual accomplishments but it’s also because they want to take it to the next level.”

But no worries Twins fans, both Mauer and Bartlett will in the Twins Cities for the opening of Twins Fest on January 26th. Slowey, Garza, and Neshak are also schedule to appear. More information on Twinsfest can be found here.

In other news, the Twins inked pitchers Sidney Ponson and Brad Voyles to minor league deals with invitations to major league camp. Both pitchers will be given a shot at making the major league pitching staff. Ponson's acquisition has drawn some concern from the fans, as his recent numbers have not been strong.

"This is an opportunity for him to compete for one of our rotation spots with a host of others, and he is still just 30 years old," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said in an article on Twinsbaseball.com. "It wasn't too long ago that he threw well over 200 innings. We feel like we are a good fit for him and I thought it certainly was worth taking a shot at bringing in a guy that has the Major League experience that he has."

While it should be noted that many of players brought in to try out for spots in spring training don't make the team or even stay with the organization, the Twins have have had some success bringing in pitchers in the past. Most recently, Dennys Reyes emerged as one of the best left-handed relievers in the league for the club after struggling to find a fit with other teams.

Minor League pitchers and catchers are still nearly two months away, and winter league baseball has ended.

Fort Myers locals are reminded that the Twins will be holding 11 baseball clinics for the area youth, with the first two being held this Saturday at the Lee County Sports Complex.

The two-hour clinics require no registration and are open to boys and girls ages 5 to 16. Twins instructors will teach hitting, fielding, and throwing at each clinic. Parents are encouraged to participate with their sons or daughters in the sessions.

The first clinic starts at 10 a.m and runs until noon, the second clinic starts at 1 pm and runs until 3 pm. More information on the youth clinics can be found at Twinsbaseball.com.

Hanging with the Boys

Monday night, which was the first game back from All-star break I was sitting in the Resop's seats and Miracle GM Steve Gliner had come over to talk to me about the All-Star game.

Kevin Slowey was holding court over behind the plate and we watched for several innings as people came by and paid their resepcts. I had the All-star shots, so I figured I should go and pay my respects as well.

Several of the GCL boys had showed up as well, including Loek Van Mil, who showed up alone and left alone. I don't get that -- they usually travel in packs and he doesn't strike me as the lone wolf type.

Anyway, Kyle Aselton was sitting in the row in front of Slowey and Brian Duensing was on Slow's left. So I came in from the right, nod at the GCLers as I go past and go sit down next to Aselton.

"They take that arm off yet?" I ask him. I haven't seen him since he went on the DL, so I've no idea what they've been doing to him.

"That's not nice!" Slow says. "You need to be nice to him!"

"Who every told you I was nice?" I shoot back. This backs Slowey up for a minute.

I fish out Slow's All-star shots and hand them back to him.

"Besides, I love Kyle. He's Ace. I don't call too many players around here Ace. Do I Ace?"

Aselton laughs.

Being my favorite is a tough job, but you know, someone has to do it.

"Are these from the All-Star game?"

"Yeah, your father broke my hand."

"Yeah, well...he has this Rambo thing going on..."

"After he left they people behind me wanted to know who that young man was. I told them it was your dad. 'That young man Kevin Slowey's Dad?' they said."

"Yeah, he's well preserved. Like I said he has this Rambo thing going on.

"Here we go, this is my All-star delivery," he says, showing a shot to Duensing. "This is my favorite."

"Let me see." He shows me the worst one in the lot.

I say "Tell Duensing not to worry about dropping his first two starts. Tell him how many games it took you to pick up a win."

"Too many," he says. Like six or ten."

"How many wins do you have?" Aselton asks.

"Four," Slowey says.

"That's it?" Aselton doesn't believe that.

"Well I keep blowing them late."

"You get no decisions," I point out. "You don't blow anything." I look at Aselton. "Three guys, nine pitches on Saturday and he says he blows things."

"Are these all nine pitches?" Slow asks.

"Your teammates hate you," I said. "I can't figure out why, you're such a nice guy."

He doesn't argue this one with me. "Let me see the rest of the pictures." I had them back and admonish him not to get the out of order.

"Of course, they don't hate you as much as Garza. They hired an assassin to take him out of the game."

"THAT was painful," Slow says, as he gives the rest of the pictures back.

So then I said goodbye to Slowey. "I'm not going anywhere," he says.

"You're going to New Britain."

"No, only Casilla went up."

"Well, you need to go too."

"No I don't. Besides you only have four starters, they put Powers back in the bullpen."

"What about Colby?"

"He's still in the bullpen."

I look at Aselton. "Well, Ace here is coming of the DL."

"Not for two more weeks," Aselton says.

"I'm staying here for the rest of the season," Slowey says.

"No, you're not."

"He got Twins minor league pitcher of the month," Aselton says.

"I did not," Slow returns.

"He got FSL Pitcher of the Week," I say, "twice".

"I'm going to win Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month and give it to him," Aselton says.

Riiiightttt. He offers to go up to New Britain and sit on the DL.

"You should go up to New Britain and take pictures," Slow tells me.

"They have a photographer. He's not as nice as I am."

"Figures," Slow says. I have no idea what Duensing is making of this whole conversation and I'm not sure I care.

I decided I had to leave at this point as I'd been down there a LOT longer than the break between innings. I'm surprised none of us got yelled at.

"Don't worry," Slow tells me, "You'll have lots and lots of time yet to waste your film on him," he says in regards to Aselton. I don't consider it a waste, actually.

Anyway, I saw Aselton later in the concession line and we had a serious conversation on his arm, but he stills says two to three weeks.

That's the last time I've seen him, because we got the card sets on Tuesday and I've been trying to find Aselton because he needs to sign his card.

I don't see where having a sore elbow should prevent him from operating the camera or charting or something similar.

So, I went back up the stairs, gave Van Mil shots -- I had a lot, since I'd snapped that one week, forgot to pace myself and had nearly shot a whole role of him before I realized what I was doing.

Spoke briefly to Joe Benson, who's a total sweatheart of a kid -- and he can swing a bat too! What is it with the second rounders, that they are always so nice?

God, if Chris Parmelee comes in and is an ass I'm going to be so unhappy. Moses was such a prick when he was here. Garza was alright, but I heard he'd become a much bigger prick when he got to AA.

I hope that doesn't happen to Slow either, and that he stays as nice as he is now.

Span is real nice, but he's a Florida boy, so of course he's gonna be nice. He's almost a local Florida boy too. Plouffe is real nice.

Anyway...Aselton was an 11th rounder (2004). (I guess I should scan the card in for Eden, as I'm sure she'll want to see it.

So Eden says the nickname post was the funniest one I've done in along while and that she will definately be calling the guys by those nicknames. I'm sure that will go over really well, especially if you tell Pleasing Pie Miss Dianna made them up. LOL!

She also says "Sexy Poohbear is, well, just that (definitely my fave by the physical factor)."

You keep your grungy little mitts off Sexy Poohbear.

Of course, she's not the only one who noticed because ETwins also said "So tell me...is Brandon McConnell any good?" which I thought was a loaded question.

Okay, okay, okay....Brandon was drafted in 2003 and missed the whole 2004 season with a torn labrum. But when I walked into spring training in 2005, I noticed him right off the bat. How could I not? He was to die for. Besides, he was standing there in his rookie whites grinning at me.

Which made me very, very nervous. We finally determined it was a case of mistaken identity, but that didn't stop him much. Anyway, they finally made him cut his hair, and in retaliation grew the mustache. I hate those things. If you want to do nice full goatee, fine, I like goatees. Mustaches don't do a damn thing for me.

I don't like David Gassner much, but the goatee is great. Really.

It's okay, Brandon is still my buddy, and I miss Sexy Poohbear very much and he won't set up a myspace account so I can't stay in contact with him. ::cry::

(Just think...he could www.myspace.com/sexypoohbear!)

Um...anyway, in answer to ETown's question, if you can get him to shave off the caterpiller under his nose and grow his hair back to surfer length again...yeah...

He's not just good or even "any good".

He's to friggin' die for.

Starting off Slowey

Saturday night was not a good night to watch baseball. It was the Miracle season opener and as always they double sold the stadium so that there would be a good crowd. General Admission tickets were given out free at Publix supermarkets and you could upgrade to box seats for $2.00. I should know better than to go to opening night.

However, as they always do on opening night, they’ve got a stud pitcher on the mound which I cannot turn down the chance to see. This was no different. So I put up with the crowds, the kids, and the non-baseball people milling around in the aisles trying to sort of out which of them should be sitting in seats they all had tickets for because I just had to see Kevin Slowey pitch.

What little I saw of the pitching, I watched from the walkway behind the handicapped seating. At least everyone there was sitting down. And it was well…stunning. Magnificent. It left me wanting to see more. Slowey pitched a perfect game through five innings.

What I found interesting about this is that Slowey does not seem to consider himself the sort of guy that’s going to throw a perfect game. He puts his balls down in the zone and he tries the get the batters to hit. He then relies on his defense to get the outs for him. Yet he struck out his first batter…and half of the other fourteen he faced. Does that sound like a guy that relies on his defense?

Slowey likens himself to the Twins' Brad Radke. Or perhaps, more accurately he tries to be like Radke, a guy that relies on his positioning to get the outs. This is similar to what the Miracle fans saw with Nick Blackburn last season.

Blackburn, by the way, did not look so good in his first outing of the new season with the Rock Cats, giving up five earned runs on 8 hits in 4.1 innings. Still when I watched Blackburn over spring training, an outing in which he allowed two hits, but struck out three in two innings worth of work, how much he looks like Radke when he’s throwing.

And Radke, not so strangely enough, is one of my favorite MLB pitchers. So perhaps it’s not surprising that I’m drawn to both Blackburn and Slowey.

(In Blackies’ defense, I simply cannot imagine trying to pitch in near freezing weather. I still remember what it was like, bundled up in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium trying to watch a game when it was that cold with the wind blowing in off the lake.)

The main thing note with Slowey is the deception in his delivery. The coaches have all praised him, stating he’s been getting better as he goes along, but Slowey pretty much opened up his professional career by striking out 7-of-8 to pick up his first save last June in Elizabethton. Being a college pitcher, the Betsy Twins were using him out of the bullpen to start to give his arm a rest. He finally started his first game in Beloit later on in the season, and it’s been all starts since then.

If he can continue this kind of performance, he won’t be long in High-A ball, although certainly, it will be interesting to see if he can continue to dominate with the tougher game schedule of pro ball in his first full year of it.

Both Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey are facing that same challenge. Despite their age, they are youngsters in terms of experience. Yet we’ve seen quite a few college pitchers move fast through the Twins system in recent years including Scott Baker and Jesse Crain. Slowey and perhaps Garza could be the next two, although Glenn Perkins might see his chance in the majors by next season.

Right now the starting pitching rotation in Fort Myers is phenomenal. In six weeks though, it will be gone. However, the next homestand is only a couple of days away and you can be sure I’ll be there, drinking down the nectar of the Twins’ minor league pitchers with my eyes.

Notes: 3B David Winfree had bone chips removed for his elbow and will be regulated to DH for the next month. C Javi Sanchez has been catching in the bullpen and could be activated off the DL by the end of the next homestand (April 13-19). Jose Mijares has had shoulder problems but is expected back with the next week to ten days. Mijares, a 2002 free agent signing out of Venezuela who first came to the States in 2004, is on the Twins 40-man roster and is projected to move quickly through the system as well. Righty Jay Rainville had season ending surgery earlier this week and will sit out the season. The injury prompted the Twins to move lefty J.T. Thomas down from New Britain to start in Fort Myers. Kyle Waldrop was not considered ready for the jump to High A, but will likely make it to Fort Myers midway through the year.

Questions, Questions: Where is Brent Krause? Unless he’s on the DL with Beloit – and the Snappers are not listing their disabled players, he’s been released. While he was on the Fort Myers “break camp” roster, he did not make it to the first workout on Wednesday. Miracle broadcaster Sean Aronson assures me he is NOT with the High A team right now.