The Twins’ Class A Beloit farm team has the tall and the small.  Pitcher Loek Van Mil is 7-foot-1, shortstop Chris Cates is 5-foot-3.

Dave Mona, one of the local organizers for the 2008 U.S. Women’s Open, was elated with the news earlier this week that Michelle Wie has qualified for the June 23-29 championship at Interlachen Country Club.  He said fans have been anxiously asking whether Wie, 18, will play here.

Mona said daily capacity for the Open will be 22,500. Although he didn’t have figures available, he said advance ticket sales are fairly balanced for the championship’s last four days.

Trick-shot artist Dennis Walters, who is paralyzed below the waist, will headline an exhibition for the Catch the Spirit program at the Open on Monday, June 23 at 1 p.m. on the driving range at Interlachen.  Walters will be joined by Minnesota Lynx guard Seimone Augustus, Vikings kicker Ryan Longwell, ESPN analyst Michele Tafoya and Tim Laudner, a member of the Twins’ 1987 World Series Championship team.

Catch the Spirit began in 1991 as an effort to attract more youth and families to golf and USGA championships.  As a part of Catch the Spirit, anyone 17 and younger receives free admission to the Open when accompanied by a ticketed adult.  Kids receive a front-row seat in all grandstands during the week.  More information is available at www.2008uswomensopen.com.

Long time Lakers’ fan Dana Marshall sent a trivia note via e-mail that the franchise’s last game as the Minneapolis Lakers was played on March 26, 1960 at Washington University in St. Louis.  The Lakers are celebrating 60 years of the Minneapolis-Los Angeles Lakers franchise.

The Minnesota Thunder host Atlanta on Saturday starting at 6 p.m. in another game that will be played at Field U2 at the National Sports Center in Blaine.  Fans are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets, according to the team’s Web site, www.mnthunder.com.  The track at the NSC stadium field is being removed so the playing surface will be 80 feet closer to the grandstand. The facility will be ready for the Thunder in July.

Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners last week it’s “fair” to say assistant general manager Fred Hoiberg is being developed to succeed Kevin McHale as the Timberwolves’ basketball boss. McHale, 50, has been Taylor’s top basketball operations guy since 1995 when the Mankato businessman bought the team.  Hoiberg, 35, joined the front office after his playing career with the Wolves ended in 2006.

“What we’re doing with Fred is that each year we put him in a different area so that he can learn it, so that if and when Kevin decides to step down then you know Fred is there as a candidate for that job,” Taylor said. “That’s been said openly in front of Kevin, and in front of Fred, so this isn’t anything that’s being done in the secret or anything like that, and Kevin’s been very supportive of it and Fred’s been learning a lot. …”

There’s speculation a change could come as early as next year but Taylor said that timeline hasn’t been discussed and Hoiberg isn’t “pushing” for that.  “I think that will just weigh upon how well we do,” he said.  “I think that will be determined by the decisions we make this year and how well we play this year.”

When McHale took over with the Wolves he was inexperienced.  Taylor said he wants to avoid “trial and error” in the future and that’s why there’s a plan to develop Hoiberg, although it’s possible there could be a McHale successor other than Hoiberg.

Meanwhile, the Wolves are having a lot of meetings, including ones attended by Taylor, trying to determine what to do with the No. 3 overall pick in the June 26 NBA draft.  Taylor is open to either keeping the No. 3 pick, or trading it away (for perhaps a lower draft choice packaged with veteran players).

There’s a consensus that Derrick Rose of Memphis and Michael Beasley of Kansas State are the two best draft prospects.  “I don’t think it’s just obvious this year who would be No. 3,” Taylor said.  “I know our guys don’t have a person in mind yet.  I know that will be determined after these tests and bringing the players in and meeting them.”

The Wolves’ Hoiberg is a younger look-a-like for movie star Harrison Ford of Indiana Jones fame.

If UCLA forward Kevin Love isn’t among the first 10 picks in the June 26 NBA draft some team is going to really luck into a special player.  Love is a phenomenal outlet passer, with ability to rebound and play unselfishly.

The daughter of former Gopher and Detroit Lions tight end Charlie Sanders will box in a 10 round main event for the International Female Boxing Association junior middleweight title on Friday night from Isleta Casino & Resort in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm and Mary Jo Sanders will headline the pay-per-view event.

Holm fights out of Albuquerque and has a record of 21-1-2, with six KO’s.  Sanders, from Detroit, is 25-0 with eight KO’s.  Holm is the IFBA welterweight champion and seven-time world title-holder in three different weight classes.  IBA middleweight title-holder Sanders is a four-time world champion in four divisions.

Cristie Kerr, about 5-3, 125 pounds, weighed 175 pounds in 1999, according to wikipedia.com.  Both of her parents are diabetics and Kerr lost 50 pounds by 2002, per wikipedia.  Kerr, 30, is the defending U.S. Women’s Open champion. The Open will be played June 23-29 at Interlachen Country Club in Edina.

Several local restaurants will offer the opportunity to photograph the U.S. Women’s Open trophy prior to June 23.  The trophy tour will begin Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Redstone in Eden Prairie and conclude on June 20at Via in Edina, also from 5 to 7 p.m.  The U.S. Women’s Open Championship Cup that will tour here is a replica of the original trophy housed in the USGA Museum.  Since 1992 the winner of the U.S. Women’s Open has been presented with the replica trophy to have until the following championship.  For more information visit www.2008uswomensopen.com.

Joel Maturi, who the South Bend Tribune Web site included on a list of possible candidates for the Notre Dame athletic directors job, told Sports Headliners on Monday that neither a search firm or representative of Notre Dame has contacted him about the vacant position.  (It’s believed that one of the most prominent candidates, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, has said no to Notre Dame.)

Maturi said he’s working every day on final fund-raising for the TCF Bank Stadium opening in 2009.  The goal is $9 million but he hopes to push beyond that total.  He also said the new stadium will have 20,000 to 25,000 seats between the goal lines with the balance in the bowl end. The initial stadium capacity will be 50,000 with expansion to more than 70,000 possible.