Have a brew for Killebrew!

This past Tuesday, the game of baseball lost one of it's most feared sluggers of all-time. Twins great Harmon Killebrew lost a long battle with esophageal cancer 74 years young.




Harmon earned the nickname "The Killer" for the rediculous amount of power he possessed at the dish. In a time where roids were non-existent, Killebrew mashed 573 Home Runs over a 22-year career (11th all-time)










In the 1960's, pitching dominated. Harmon Killebrew managed to hit 40 or more homers 8 seasons and hit more round trippers in the 1960's than anyone!



His home runs weren't just squeakers over the wall either, mind you..this wasn't Big Mac's 62nd home run in '98..they were absolute BOMBS! He is only one of 4 men to ever hit a ball out of Tiger Stadium and is the owner of the longest ball hit in Twins history. The ball sailed 520 feet back at the old Memorial Field (which is now replaced by the Mall of America). The exact spot the ball landed is still preserved to this day as you can see here.




A Hall of Famer, a 13-time all-star and former Most Valuable Player. Harmon Killebrew may have been feared by pitchers everywhere, but until his death he remained one of the most all-around gentlemen and ambassador to baseball.





So if you respect the greats of this game. join me in raising your drink of choice and toast one to "The Killer"!

Road To The Ship Day 1: Mr. Doc-Tober!

I hope everyone had the opportunity to tune into TBS last night around 7:30 last night, because what you witnessed is something that we see once in a lifetime.

A no-hitter hasn't been pitched in the postseason since Don Larsen's perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Even if Doc Halladay wasn't "perfect" last night, he couldn't have looked more in the zone in his 1st ever postseason start. Halladay scattered 104 pitches over his 9 innings; 79 of those strikes. A fifth inning walk to Jay Bruce was his only blemish. Watching him, you just had the eerie feeling that nobody was going to touch him...and they didn't. Between this amazing feat, his perfect game back in May and most likely being named the NL Cy Young Award winner, i'm expecting a statue of Roy being built in front of Citizens Bank by April.

Oh yea, Phils won 4-0, rocked Edinson Volquez, who shouldn't have been starting game 1 after missing most of the year and had an RBI single from..you guessed it..Roy Hobbs..err..Halladay

Before this historic game, however, we had the postseason kick off with a phenomenal matchup of Cliff Lee vs David Price. Unfortunately, David Price didn't get the memo.

Price went 6 2/3, but gave up a couple of bombs to Bengie Molina and Nelson Cruz; not to mention an RBI single to Jeff Francoeur! You think the playoffs have revitalized him?

If there's one thing I did learn yesterday it was that Lee ALWAYS steps it up in October, regardless of what kind of year he had this season. Cliff scattered a run and 5 hits over 7 with 10K's..probably would have been the talk of yesterday if Roy Roy didn't go nuts.

Texas has a lineup full of hitters and this series will NOT be easy for the Rays. At least 35,000 strong actually showed up to the game. C.J Wilson and his 15-8 record take the mound for the Rangers while James Shields goes for TB this afternoon and Shields just did not have a good year. He has given up at least 4 earned runs in 5 of his last 6 starts and facing this potent Texas offense won't help. Expect Texas to go up 2-0 and win their first ever playoff series!

In Minny last night, C.C Sabathia wasn't at his best, but the Yankees still managed to come out on top 6-4 with a little help from Big Tex. Mariano came on, faced four batters and broke 4 bats; definitely looked like the Mo of old last night. Now, the question is can Andy Pettitte look like his old self in Game 2 against former Yankee, Carl Pavano. I can only imagine how bad you Yanks fans wanna stick it to this guy.

Don't forget about the Braves and San Francisco baseball Giants. They get kicked off tonight around 9:30! "Big Time Timmy Jim" Lincecum battles Derek Lowe as the Bravos look to extend Bobby Cox's managerial career. In a side note, the highest paid player on the Giants, Barry Zito, was left off the roster because he has sucked for the first 4 years of his contract

Just for the record, does anybody else hate the pitchtracker on TBS? Just saying!

Enjoy the games tonight and i'll be back to recap day 2 tomorrow!

Sudden Death at the Baggydome!!

86 wins and 162 games failed to settle the American League Central...now it's do or die for the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers...











One day after Brett Farve dominated his former team from Green Bay, the Metrodome plays host to yeat another big-time game...one that could very well potentially be the final game the Twins ever play in that facility...





After losing two critical games to the Tigers last week, it seemed like a 3 game defecit with 4 games remaining was nearly insurmountable...However, the Twinkies showed their grit by winning their final four games....their final two against potential Cy Young winner Zack Greinke as well as a very convincing 13-4 victory Sunday afternoon..





On the other side of things...The Tigers
lost 3 consecutive games heading into the final game of the season and needed a clutch preformance by their ace, Justin Verlander, just to end the season in a tie with Minnesota...











On top of the fact that they are stumbling into this game...Miguel Cabrera has been the talk of the town for getting into a scuffle with his significant other after a night of boozing with the rival White Sox..Does he deserve to be benched..absolutely! However, Leyland sees otherwise and he will be hitting 4th today...a move I can't exactly blame him for...





Going for the Tigers today will be 20 year old rookie Rick Porcello...a man who is making a strong case for rookie of the year with a 14-9 record..This year against the Twinkies, Ricky has pitched well with a 3.09 e.r.a over 4 starts and Mauer has only hit .111 against him this year...However, in Minnesota, the rook is 0-2 with a 6.30 e.r.a. Add the earth-rattling atmosphere that the dome will surely have and it may be a bit too much for the Jersey product to overcome...



For the Twins, 15-game winner Scott Baker gets the call...Although he had a good start against the Tigers last week giving up a run on 5 hits to get the win, Baker has a 6.75 e.r.a against Detroit this year...The #3 hitter for the Tigers today is Magglio Ordonez and he has hit .460 against Baker in his career!! He's had a down year, but has hit in his last 12 games...including 2 hits in 3 at-bats against Baker on Oct 1st....he's my x-factor for the Tigers today..





So who am I taking? Here's the bottom line...why is this game in the Baggydome? Because the Twins WON the season series 11-7...in the dome, the Twins have won 7 of the 9 games against the Tigers this season..The Twins have hit .307 against the Tigers this year and the Tigers e.r.a vs. the Twins this year is an awful 5.48....I'm going with the team with the most momentum...and the team with the raucous croud...im going with the Twinkies today and at least one more baseball game will be played in the dome before the Twins move to Target field...





For the 9th time in the history of baseball, there will be a one-game playoff as well as a date with the New York Yankees in the ALDS...For the Twins, this is the second year in a row that there will be a game 163..they know what it takes to come through in this type of situation...This game will undoubtedly not come up short in the drama department...