1. The name of the Twins message board on the scoreboard at Met Stadium was the “Twins-O-Gram.”

2.  Joe Nathan, probably the best relief pitcher in Twins history, came here in a trade with San Francisco in 2003 that also included starting pitcher Francisco Liriano.

3.  Pedro Ramos started and was the winning pitcher in the franchise’s first regular season game ever, a 6-0 win in 1961 at Yankees Stadium against New York.

4. You qualify for a genius name tag with the right answer to this one.  Joe Mauer entered this season with a .327 career batting average and Mickey Cochrane was second all-time among catchers with a .320 average.

5.  Jacques Jones, a fan favorite, played his first major league season with the Twins in 1999 and hit .289 in 95 games.

6.  The Twins Minor League Player of the Year in 2009 was Ben Revere while the Pitcher of the Year was David Bromberg.

7.  Tight end Jim Kleinsasser, a second round draft choice from North Dakota, is still with the Vikings after playing for head coaches Dennis Green (1992-2001), Mike Tice (2001-2005) and Brad Childress (2006 to present).

8.  Freddie “The Toe” Cox is the Vikings’ all-time career scoring leader with 1,365 points.

9.  Brett Favre was originally drafted by Atlanta in 1991, played in two games for the Falcons and was traded to Green Bay for the 1992 season.

10.  In 2005 Reggie Fowler pronounced himself as “6-foot-1 and tons of fun,” but didn’t become the Vikings majority owner.  He did become and remains a limited partner in the franchise.

11.  Cris Carter had 1,004 receptions and 110 touchdowns for the Vikings while Randy Moss totaled 574 catches and 90 TD’s.

12.  Donyell Marshall, the Wolves No. 1 draft choice in 1994, didn’t drive a car, nor did he have a license when he first played here.

13. This is a bit tricky but Kevin Love first played at Target Center as a prep in the 2007 Timberwolves Shootout, an all day showcase of high school teams from Minnesota and elsewhere.

14. The Wolves first director of player personnel was Billy McKinney.

15.  Gerald Green, the former Wolves player who excelled more at jumping than basketball, finished second to Dwight Howard in the 2008 NBA slam dunk contest.

16. Former Wild general manager Doug Risebrough’s daughter Lindsay played for the Gophers after being a standout tennis player at Edina High School.

17.  Darby Hendrickson wore No. 14 from 2000 to 2004.  Martin Havlat joined the Wild last season and started wearing sweater No. 14.

18.  Brad Bombardir, one of the franchise’s most popular players ever, was recently named the Wild’s director of player development.

19. The Wild have sold out 409 consecutive home games but Detroit holds the all-time NHL record for sellouts with 452.  

20.  Doc Romnes coached the Gophers from 1947 to 1952 and was succeeded by John Mariucci. (Take a near genius name tag if you answered this one correctly).

21. The Gophers’ last men’s hockey national championship was in 2003 and Thomas Vanek led the team in points with 69.

22. The Gophers defeated Fresno State in the 1998 NIT semi-finals, then went on to beat Penn State to win the tournament.  (Yes, the record book now says those wins vanished because of NCAA sanctions.)

23. Maurice Walker, from Toronto, will be a freshman for the Gophers this fall and along with Devoe Joseph is the second Canadian on the team.

24. The Gophers won the Little Brown Jug most recently by defeating Michigan in 1977, 1986 and 2005.

25.  Eric Decker led the Gophers with five touchdown catches last season while Nick Tow-Arnett was second with three.

26.  Lindsay Whalen, who ranks with the state’s most legendary female athletes ever, is married to former Gopher golfer Ben Greve.

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A Twins team that has spent most of the season in first place still has 87 games remaining but that doesn’t lessen the significance of a series that begins at home tonight against the Tigers and another series July 9-11 in Detroit.   After the July series the two Central Division leading teams don’t play again until the two final series of the year, August 31-September 2 in Minneapolis and September 24-26 in Detroit.

The Twins hold a one half game lead in the division standings over Detroit going into tonight’s game.  Minnesota and Detroit know all about precarious outcomes following last season’s playoff game between the Twins and Tigers that decided the division championship.

Last season the Twins were 8-2 at home against Detroit, 4-6 in Detroit.  Without that home domination, the Twins wouldn’t have won the Central Division title.  This season the Twins swept a three game series at Target Field in April, while in May the Twins could only win one of three games in Detroit.

The games this week and in early July are part of a challenging schedule for the Twins between now and the All-Star game break July 12-14.  The Twins play four games at home against Tampa Bay (July 1-4) and the Rays might be baseball’s best team.  The schedule prior to the All-Star break also includes three games in Toronto against the mediocre Blue Jays.

The Twins have been ranked among baseball’s better teams so far in 2010 but some observers maintain they’ve been a disappointment despite their talent.  “They’re in a good division (for winning),” one critic said.  “I expected more.”

The Central Division historically and today remains mediocre.  The Twins have capitalized on the opportunity winning five titles since 2000.  They may well add a sixth in 2010 but critics thought the team would be more impressive after making three notable off-season acquisitions: shortstop J.J. Hardy, second baseman Orlando Hudson and designated hitter Jim Thome.

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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.

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