Author: David Shama

Hardy and Hudson have missed so much time collectively with injuries it seems like a long time ago when they teamed up to help send the Twins off to a fast start in April, 15-8. The absence of those two and anemic hitting replacements has combined to give the Twins a pretty ordinary infield even though first baseman Justin Morneau has been spectacular hitting the ball.  His fielding has been impressive, too, and he combines with other position players for a usually solid defense.  The Twins have committed the fewest errors in the major leagues, 27.

Thome has made some noise with his bat but his numbers aren’t too imposing so far hitting .241 with six home runs and 19 RBI.  His inconsistency characterizes the overall offense that at times has been explosive such as in Philadelphia earlier this month when the club rallied from a 9-4 ninth inning deficit to win in extra innings. But often Twins bats have failed with runners on base.  Four of the big producers need to do more, Joe Mauer (three home runs–honest), Michael Cuddyer (modest totals including .259 average and 33 RBI), Jason Kubel (hitting .219 against left handed pitching) and Denard Span (.373 average at home, .192 on the road).

Although the Twins didn’t draw it up this way, enigmatic Delmon Young has come much closer to matching potential with results than several of his teammates.  Young is hitting .293, with eight home runs and 49 RBI.

Also not on the drawing board before the season began was a bullpen that has given up a lot fewer runs than anyone expected after the Twins lost closer Joe Nathan for all of 2010 because of his injured right arm.  That bullpen has helped an ordinary starting pitching staff that is still in identity crisis trying to find a couple of aces.  The starters collectively looked overmatched during the two most recent road trips where the Twins lost of five six games.

Last year the Twins front office came up with summer time acquisitions that made a difference in winning the Central Division.  Whether the decision makers will add to the talent pool again will be determined soon, but in the meantime the Twins are advised to make good on their opportunities starting tonight against Detroit.

At tonight’s game the Twins are selling Schweigert hot dogs for $1 at Hennepin Grille, Taste of Twins Territory, Mill City Grill, Halsey’s Sausage Haus and other locations at Target Field.

Twins fans remember former owner Calvin Griffith as a character but he couldn’t match Charlie O. Finley who owned the Athletics in Kansas City and Oakland from 1961 to 1980.  Charley Finley: The Outrageous Story of Baseball’s Super Showman is a new book that will be out next month, according to the June 16-22 issue of USA Today Sports Weekly.  Authors G. Michael Green and Roger Launius admit to a favorite among Finley’s many wacky ideas: installing an elevator under the pitching mound to deliver relief pitchers.

Bruce Krinke and other Gopher football supporters hope to have a bronze bust of Bruce Smith placed in the hall of fame area at TCF Bank Stadium.  The bust has been completed by Faribault artist Ivan Whillock but hasn’t been bronzed yet.  Smith, a Faribault native and the only Gopher ever to win the Heisman Trophy, helped Minnesota to national championships in 1940 and 1941.  The Gophers sports hall of fame will open later this year at the stadium.

Best thoughts and prayers to Lynx president Conrad Smith for his recovery from surgery to remove a malignant tumor in his head.  Conrad has been a sports executive in town for many years working not only for the Lynx but the Timberwolves, Twins and North Stars.

For the first time in franchise history the Wild are selling partial season ticket packages.  With a waiting list of over 7,000 for full season tickets, the franchise has a target market for the partial packages that are expected to help the Wild continue its streak of 409 consecutive home sellouts, the longest in the NHL.  The all-time longest streak is 452 by Detroit.

The Wild will host the NHL Entry Draft next year on Friday, June 24 and Saturday, June 25.  A crowd of 15,000 or more is expected the evening of June 24.

The franchise is discussing plans for recognizing former North Stars forward Dino Ciccarelli who recently was selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

The Dallas Stars’ Mike Modano, who was the North Stars’ No. 1 draft choice in 1988, might play next season for the Wild, Detroit, Los Angeles or Dallas, according to an NHL source.

Eight MIAC football players have been named to the D3 Senior Classic preseason watch list. The classic is a post-season all-star game showcasing Division III players and played annually at Salem Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The MIAC players include running back Ben Wartman, center Josh Ostrue and defensive tackle Brian Villar from St. Thomas.  Also on the list are quarterback Joe Boyle and outside linebacker Jeff Gilbertson from St. John’s.  Others being considered are Carleton tackle Brad Eckelmann, Bethel defensive tackle Andrew Johnson and Concordia safety Zach Debeltz.

Athletic Director Joel Maturi spoke to Sports Headliners about subjects of interest to Gophers fans including Big Ten Conference expansion and division alignment.  Maturi believes that with Nebraska becoming the league’s 12^th team in 2011 the conference will decide how to group the teams by September 1 of this year.

No doubt there will be two divisions with six teams each but how will it look?  “I don’t believe it will be solely geographical,” Maturi said.

School locales will be a factor but so too will be creating overall division and conference competitive balance, according to Maturi.  Figuring out a balance between those factors will mean the Gophers likely won’t have an annual football schedule against all four of these historical and traditional rivals: Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska.

Maturi said the best the Gophers may hope for is to be in a division with two of those schools and through cross divisional scheduling face an additional rival each season.  “You can’t keep them all,” he said.

Conference teams are expected to indefinitely continue playing eight league games and four non-nonconference.  Maturi said the number of league games could be expanded some day but he doesn’t see it happening soon.  One reason is that a nine game league schedule means some teams would have five home games, others four in any given year.

Maturi believes it could be awhile before, or if, the conference adds another team and perhaps moves toward what some have speculated will become a 16 member league.   He and other leaders will want assurances that expansion doesn’t result in less revenue from Big Ten sources such as TV money for each existing member.  Revenues per school are expected to remain the same or even grow for each school despite slicing the pie 12 ways with Nebraska coming into the league.

Maturi needs the over $20 million received annually from the Big Ten to maintain a 25 sport program of which he is proud.  His athletic department has been able to operate in the black financially despite having less football income than most conference schools but more total sports than several league members.

Maturi said the Gophers expect to finish among the top 15 to 20 schools for this school year in the Learfield cup standings.  That annual ranking of total sports performance by America’s colleges and universities frequently has the Gophers among the top schools.

Gopher athletes have been excelling in academics, including higher graduation rates as compared with the general student population, and also volunteering for projects in the community.  Maturi said the school’s 750 athletes put in about 7,500 hours of community volunteer time during the past school year.