June 17, 2003

TALKIN' BASEBALL: I'm reporting live

TALKIN' BASEBALL: I'm reporting live from my parents' house in suburban Minneapolis, where so far this week I've attended my first-ever Wilco concert, my first home Twins game since 2000, and my first St. Paul Saints Northern League game since even before that.
Wilco was cool- an outdoor concert outside of Minneapolis' famed sculpture garden, although the crowd seemed to lose interest when the band was playing any non-"Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" songs.
My dad and I went to the Metrodome on Father's Day, when (unfortunately for both the Twins and my fantasy team) Brad Radke once again pitched piss-poorly, as the Twins fell to the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-8 before a crowd of a little over 30,000. The loss, unfortunately, means the Twins will not win the World Series this year, because in both '87 and '91 they were undefeated (8-0 and 12-0, respectively) in games that I attended, including spring training and postseason. Oh well. But that Morneau kid looks like the real deal.
The Saints game, as always, was fun- owner Mike Veeck was doing Mark Cuban's schtick years before Cuban did, and really owes it to the game to get into major league ownership, and soon. The Saints have previously been home to Darryl Strawberry, J.D. Drew, Kevin Millar, Rey Ordonez, and others for brief stretches; I didn't see anyone of note in Monday's game, but I did see this year's Official Saints pig, known as The Notorious P.I.G. (following previous mascots Saint, Hamlet, and Kevin Bacon), as well as the "Designated K-Man," a member of the opposing team who wins a free Arby's sandwich for everyone in the stadium if he strikes out. As most people would, the player for opponent Fargo struck out the first time out.
The Saints' opponent, unfortunately, was not the Schaumburg Flyers, the team that until recently employed the Worst Son Ever, John Henry Williams.
And in other sports news, the good guys (the San Antonio Spurs) won the NBA championship, defeating the New Jersey Nets. My condolences to (apparently) the only Nets fan who cares, Ken Goldstein, as well as those people who got their cars blown up outside the Meadowlands Friday night. What the hell was that all about?
I'll be back with more later, from "Minny."

Posted by Stephen Silver at June 17, 2003 06:36 PM
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