Baseball Tonight!

Alright, so it's against the Twins and their starter is the unfortunately moniker-ed Boof Bonser (career ERA of 4.77) but it's real, honest-to-goodness baseball. On my television. Tonight.

It's one of those things; you know it's coming, you spend embarrassingly large amounts of time waiting anxiously for it, you prepare for it as best you can, and then suddenly, it's upon you and it's gleefully exciting.

It's like Christmas but better. The joy of Christmas lasts only as long as it takes for your aunt to start yelling at your uncle about taking more responsibility, for the cold war between your cousin and her sister-in-law to become evident, for your other cousin to start pouting in the corner and for the lasagna to somehow end up on the kitchen floor, a few hours. Tops. Baseball, on the other hand, lasts for months and months. It has some of the same anguish and angst as Christmas but it has the added benefit of becoming the backdrop of your life for seven, maybe eight months out of the year. And you wouldn't want it any other way.

According to Bradford, the pitchers that Minnesota intends to field tonight are the aforementioned Bonser, Nathan, Humber, Slowey, and Bass. Bonser's fastball is in the low-nineties and he has a strong curveball. He has had significant problems with command in the past. Joe Nathan (career ERA of 3.00) is their closer; his fastball is in the mid-nineties, he's got a servicable curveball, and a changeup. He's probably the strongest pitcher on their team. Philip Humber is a former Met. He's a baby pitcher from the National League, who did not post a particularly stellar set of numbers in Queens (ERA of 6.00 over 5 starts.) Slowey showed very good control in the minor leagues but had some issues in the majors last year (his ERA was 4.73); he walked eleven batters in his thirteen games last season, unfortunately, he also gave up eighty-two hits. Brian Bass is a minor league pitcher who had a 3.48 ERA in AAA last season. He projects to be a middle reliever.

As for offense, I don't know from whom they plan to get hits. They don't have any real power hitters (I suppose it doesn't really make a difference over the course of a game or two. It will prove problematic over the course of the season, though.) Justin Morneau is probably their best hitter (OBP of .343 and SLG of .492). Their catcher Joe Mauer has also hit pretty well (OBP of .382 and SLG of .426). Their second baseman, Brendan Harris, had an OBP of .343 and a SLG of .434; their third baseman, Mike Lamb, had an OBP of .366 and a SLG of .453. Right fielder, Michael Cuddyer, had an OBP of .356 and a SLG of . 433 last season. And out in left field, Jason Kubel had an OBP of .335 and a SLG of .450. But again, I don't know who they plan to put out there tonight-it might be a rag-tag group of minor leaguers.

I won't be having a hot dog or a beer in honor of tonight's game but I will be having my good mojo baseball cake. It's all very exciting. Only a few more hours until baseball. Woot!