Minnesota Twins

The 2010 schedule won't be officially announced until sometime in September, but the Associated Press has obtained at least a portion of the schedule, including the date of the first outdoor game in Minneapolis in twenty eight seasons.

Target Field is set to open on April 12, 2010 when the Minnesota Twins take on the Boston Red Sox. This was released:

Target Field has a target date.

Clutch: the word that is tattooed into every idiotic baseball fan's vocabulary, and into the ears of every intelligent baseball fan during an argument regarding a player's talent. 

Why is it that we assign more value to performances in the seventh, eighth, or ninth innings as opposed to the previous six innings? 

Why is it Joe Crede can strike out three times, leaving nine men on base, but if he hits a solo home run in the ninth inning to send the fans home, he is glorified for his performance?

Yesterday marked the beginning of the International signing period in which players not from the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico can sign with ball clubs.

The one player everyone is interested in hearing about is Miguel Angel Sano. Major League Baseball is still investigating his true age, so any deal probably won't be done until next week at the earliest.

Wednesday, for the first time all season, the Minnesota Twins ascended to two games over the .500 mark. It is hard to believe that, given this situation and the fact that there are only nine more games before the All-Star break, the team would be looking to buy at the deadline.

Usually, if a team has stumbled around the .500 mark for the entire first half of the season, they are looking to sell and rebuild for next year. However, with the rest of the AL Central playing below expectations as well, the Twins are right in the thick of the fight. 

Michael Cuddyer said it best when he described the baseball season recently.

"The first forty games you look to keep close, the next eighty or so you look to pull ahead, and the final forty you look to hold that lead."

The first phase of the season was successful for Minnesota. They stuck right in the race through the first forty games, staying within within four games or so of first place in the American League Central.

Everybody loves a hard worker. Just ask Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire. He is known around Twins' Territory as one who adores players who bust their tails, even though the results may not be there.

Perhaps this is the reason Matt Tolbert still finds himself in the batting lineup every day?

Being brutally honest, Tolbert is not a good baseball player. His defense is above-average at second base, but most of that is thanks to his incredible speed.

Interleague play first began in 1997, and since that time, the schedule has seen more and more National League teams added.

The Twins' style of play, often referred to as "small ball," has been compared regularly to that of the National League "style." So it's no wonder that the Minnesota Twins have succeeded in interleague play since the tradition began.

According to Jim Mandelaro of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, the Twins have called-up Bobby Keppel after Saturday's bullpen blowup over the weekend.

The Minnesota Twins have spent most of June slowly gaining ground on the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central.

Early next month, the Twins could quickly gain ground on the rest of the Major League Baseball when it comes to high-profile international signings.

Steven Tolleson, I'm willing to bet Twins fans have ever even heard the name.  In fact he is so unheard of that Getty Images doesn't even have a photo of the guy.  However, while looking through the Twins stat lines for their minor league affiliates one day I came across an impressive line attached to this name.  The killer part is, he's a shortstop.