News Tribune staff
The Minnesota Timberwolves have added seven new radio affiliates, including a station serving Aitkin and Brainerd.
The NBA team now has 26 radio affiliates, the most since the 2006-07 season.
The new Northland station — a pair of stations, actually — is KKIN-FM 94.3 / KFGI-FM 101.5 serving Aitkin and Brainerd.
Other Northland stations carrying Timberwolves games include WEBC-AM 560 in Duluth, WELY-AM 1450 in Ely and KOZY-AM 1320 in Grand Rapids.
Chris Duncan
Associated Press
HOUSTON — Rick Adelman has mostly good memories from his years in Houston, and his new team delivered one more on Monday night.
Michael Beasley scored 34 points, Ricky Rubio had 18 points and 11 assists and the Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Rockets 120-108 in Adelman’s return to Houston.
Kevin Love had 29 points for the Timberwolves, who blew open a close game with a franchise-record 42 points in the third, also a season high for any quarter.
The 6-foot-10 Beasley, in just his third game back after missing 11 games with a sprained right foot, set a franchise record for single-game points by a reserve. He went 10 for 14 from the field and 12 for 12 from the free-throw line to finish just eight points shy of his career high.
“That’s what I’ve got to do,” Beasley said. “I’ve got to penetrate, use my athleticism.”
Minnesota shot a season-best 58 percent (43 of 74) from the field and eclipsed its previous high point total for the season by 14.
And it could’ve hardly happened on a better night for Adelman, who turned down the Rockets’ offer to renew his contract after last season because of philosophical differences with owner Leslie Alexander and general manager Daryl Morey.
“We didn’t try to attack on one pass, we moved the ball from side to side,” Adelman said. “I thought we could get to the basket if we did that. It was a really good team win. A lot of guys played and a lot of guys contributed.”
Adelman revealed more about the reasons for his departure before the game, half-joking that he was still awaiting a phone call from Alexander. Adelman said he read in a local newspaper column that he was to blame for the communication breakdown between the two during his tenure.
“I didn’t think anything of it, until I saw the stuff about how I never listened to anything,” he said. “I’m not real smart, but I’m going to listen to my boss. That just kind of turned me the wrong way.”
Morey walked up and shook Adelman’s hand during pregame warmups, and the two had a brief, apparently cordial conversation.
Adelman seemed more animated on the sideline than usual, though, especially once the second half began.
The Timberwolves opened the second half with a 12-4 burst, capped by Love’s second 3-pointer for a 66-60 lead. Kyle Lowry and Kevin Martin answered with 3-pointers, and Lowry turned a steal into a breakaway layup to tie it at 68.
Minnesota then pushed the tempo and poured it on, finishing the quarter with a 19-6 spurt. The Wolves hit 15 of 24 shots, including four 3-pointers, and went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line to put together the highest scoring quarter against Houston this season.
“It was just like we were sitting there and we could never find any kind of rhythm defensively,” Houston coach Kevin McHale said. “We never got many consecutive stops, we never really dug in and got things.”
Rubio, Beasley and Love led the scoring barrage, with 32 points in the third on 10-for-12 shooting. Minnesota led 96-81 heading to the fourth, and the Rockets hardly challenged the rest of the way.
“I’’s fun basketball when you’re that efficient,” Love said. “We got open shots, set good picks and we just did the little things that helped us have a big third quarter.”
Martin scored 29 points after missing two games with inflammation in his right heel. The Rockets lost for only the second time in 11 games.
“Just felt like one of those games when we were stuck in the mud,” McHale said.
Minnesota finished 28 of 31 from the free-throw line and dished out 18 assists. The Timberwolves have won six of nine to get within one game of .500, and they’re starting to get excited about the possibilities this season.
“We know we can go on big runs,” Love said. “It’s just the case of not getting down so much and not having to fight back from such a large deficit.”
Chase Budinger scored 13 for Houston, also outrebounded 40-34.
The Rockets beat Minnesota 107-92 a week ago in McHale’s first game back in his home state since he succeeded Adelman last June. The teams play again in Minneapolis on Saturday.
MY TWO CENTS: Beasley is an incredibly streaky scorer, and it seems like whenever he has a big game — such as he did against Houston — he feels the need to be more aggressive the next time out. The result is a barrage of forced shots and low-percentage attempts. Consequently, he tends to bog down the offense. Hopefully, he continues to get his looks in the flow of the offense rather than disrupting what has become a pretty potent attack.
PHOTO CAPTION: Rick Adelman was triumphant in his return to Houston on Monday night. (File photo / Associated Press)
Ben Goessling
St. Paul Pioneer Press
The Minnesota Wild got a couple of pleasant surprises Monday on their first day back from the All-Star break. Guillaume Latendresse, out since Dec. 14 with a concussion, skated with the team during practice, and captain Mikko Koivu, sidelined since Jan. 14 with a shoulder injury, worked out before practice.
Though both players still aren’t ready to return, they’re making progress toward giving Minnesota’s offense a boost.
Coach Mike Yeo said Koivu could go on the road trip to Denver and Dallas later in the week, depending on his workouts Tuesday and Wednesday. Yeo said the center is much closer to returning than Latendresse; he might even be back on the ice in early February.
The Wild will proceed cautiously with Latendresse, whose concussion symptoms flared up against Chicago in December after he tried playing for the second time in two games. He hasn’t been cleared for contact, and the forward said he might have to be careful about hitting when he returns; he re-injured himself on a first-period check against the Blackhawks.
But his symptoms are gone, he said, and he’s hoping to return soon. Latendresse says he feels fine, and he’d rather just play and see what happens than keep sitting around and wondering.
“If I get free for contact, after that, why not?” Latendresse said. “Maybe the first few games, I’ll try to feel the game instead of being right in it. I think I’ll be more intelligent with it.”
The Wild could use both of them. Koivu still leads the team in points (33), and Latendresse scored 27 goals in 2009-10, his last full NHL season.
Joe Christensen
Minneapolis Star Tribune
MINNEAPOLIS — Wes Carroll has read the blogs and seen the skepticism: The Minnesota Twins are turning their shortstop job over to that little guy?
That little guy is his older brother, Jamey Carroll, a journeyman infielder who turns 38 next month and hasn’t hit a home run since 2009.
“It’s amazing,” Wes said in a phone interview over the weekend. “Everywhere he’s gone, if you read the papers and the message boards, they’re talking about his weaknesses. And by the time he leaves, they’re all talking about his strengths.”
Wes, 33, might be biased, but he knows his baseball. He was a minor league infielder for five years, peaking at Class AAA, and is now the coach at the University of Evansville. The oldest Carroll sibling, 39-year-old Jason, was an offensive lineman for two years at Indiana University.
“Our oldest brother is a monster, and I was bigger and pretty athletic,” Wes said. “Jamey was kind of the runt of the family, and he’s the one who’s done the most. What he’s been able to accomplish at 5-9, 170 pounds soaking wet — it’s an unbelievable story.”
It starts in Evansville, Ind., the hometown of Bob Griese, Don Mattingly and Larry Carroll, who worked the midnight shift at an Alcoa aluminum plant so he wouldn’t miss any game one of his three boys played.
Jamey Carroll was an All-America shortstop for Evansville University in 1996. He faced decent competition in the Missouri Valley Conference, but wasn’t drafted until the 14th round by the Montreal Expos and didn’t reach the majors until 2002, at age 28.
“He’s always been a great fielder, always had an accurate arm, always been a great teammate,” said Twins pitcher Carl Pavano, who was with Montreal from 1998 to 2002 and teamed with Carroll again in 2009 for Cleveland. “What separates him now is his experience.”
For the past decade, Carroll has been the quintessential utility player, making 430 career starts at second base, 164 at shortstop, 116 at third base, and 15 in the outfield.
A career highlight came in 2007, when his 13th-inning sacrifice fly scored Colorado’s Matt Holliday — chin first — with the winning run in a Game 163 tiebreaker against San Diego. Carroll had entered that marathon six innings earlier, as a pinch runner.
He spent the next two years in Cleveland, then signed a two-year deal with the Dodgers. Out in Hollywood, it was an Evansville reunion. Mattingly, Carroll’s childhood idol, was the Los Angeles hitting coach in 2010 before taking over as manager last year.
Carroll didn’t hit a home run for the Dodgers, but he became a mainstay in their lineup, playing 133 games the first year and 146 last year. Over the two seasons combined, he batted .290 with a .368 on-base percentage and .344 slugging percentage.
“I’m all right with people ripping my slugging percentage and stuff like that, because my job is to get on base and to make things happen,” said Carroll, who was 10-for-10 in stolen base attempts last year. “Hopefully, that fits into what they want here.”
The Twins signed Carroll in November to a two-year, $6.75 million deal that includes an option for 2014. He’s a potential fit for the No. 2 spot in the batting order, but perhaps more important, the team is counting on him to help stabilize its defense.
Manager Ron Gardenhire said he will enter spring training with Carroll at shortstop, Alexi Casilla at second base and Tsuyoshi Nishioka as a potential replacement in both spots.
“Maybe (Carroll’s) not as quick as he was in his 20s — none of us are — but he makes up for it by knowing where to position himself,” Pavano said. “That comes with 10 years of experience. I think it’s going to be a big advantage for (third baseman Danny Valencia) having Jamey on that side of the infield.”
Carroll, who has a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, said he is willing to play anywhere, but he’s aiming to win the starting shortstop job. A weekend at TwinsFest gave him a chance to get acclimated with his new team.
“Any time you start somewhere new, it’s fun,” he said. “But there’s also some anxiety about it, going in and trying to prove to your new teammates and the fans why they came and got you. Coming here helps ease the tension and anxiety a little bit. It’s good to meet the guys and get a feel for the atmosphere here.”
Carroll’s wife and their 3-year-old twins, son Cole and daughter Mackenzie, will be joining him from Florida once the season starts. He said it was important to sign another two-year deal, so the family could feel settled. He also knows this is probably his final contract as a player.
Eventually, he just might join his younger brother in the coaching ranks.
“He’s got a brilliant baseball mind,” Wes said. “I think he’s going to have the opportunity to do whatever he wants to do.”
MY TWO CENTS: After the debacle that was 2011, any player with a pulse has to be considered an upgrade over the perpetually perplexed Nishi (or, to a lesser extent, Trevor Plouffe). Also, Carroll has that hard-to-quantify quality about him — we’ll call it Punto-ness — as evidenced by this line: “… My job is to get on base and to make things happen.” The Twins don’t need an All-Star at shortstop, merely an anchor who doesn’t turn every slow roller into something resembling a carnival ride.
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Chip Armelin scored a season-high 14 points, and Austin Hollins highlighted a whirlwind comeback in the final minutes to finish with 14 points as Minnesota defeated Illinois 77-72 in overtime Saturday.
Andre Hollins matched his namesake’s energy and production down the stretch — they’re not related — and had 14 points to help the Gophers (16-6, 4-5 Big Ten) prevail despite shooting only 18 for 29 from the free-throw line after halftime.
Brandon Paul had 22 of his 28 points after the break for the Illini (15-6, 4-4), who surged ahead on a series of slick layups by Paul. But Meyers Leonard, who finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, committed a costly fifth foul with 4 seconds left to give Austin Hollins a three-point play that tied the game.
Andre Hollins stole a cross-court pass out of the post by Leonard, setting up a three-point play on the other end when Elliott Eliason made a free throw, missed the second, and Rodney Williams followed with a dunk on the rebound — tying the game at 58 with 58 seconds left.
Austin Hollins made an egregious mistake by stepping out of bounds after catching an inbound pass with 44 seconds left, but he swished a 3-pointer on the next possession to cut the lead to 62-61.
After a pair of free throws by Paul, the Gophers got a last look. Instead of setting up for a 3-pointer, Austin Hollins drove to the lane and converted an up-and-under scoop shot with 4 seconds left, shockingly drawing Leonard’s fifth foul.
So after a half’s worth of excruciating misses at the line, here came the biggest one of all, and Hollins swished it to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Austin Hollins started the extra period with a pair of free throws and Andre Hollins swished a step-back jumper to give the Gophers a 68-64 lead, and they never gave it back. Andre Hollins put the exclamation on the game when he found an opening in the lane and flipped in an off-balance layup with 1:32 left to draw a foul and complete the three-point play for a 74-67 lead.
Illinois won 23 of the previous 25 meetings with Minnesota since the 1999 Big Ten tournament.
The Illini are one of three Big Ten teams with more turnovers than assists; they finished with 16 and 12, respectively, on Saturday.
The Gophers could’ve put this game away ahead of time had they not faltered from the foul line. Illinois used a 25-9 run to take a 54-48 lead on a hook shot by Leonard inside the 4-minute mark.
Both teams are fighting for position in the middle of the Big Ten standings. Illinois coach Bruce Weber called this week his team’s “breaking point” after a pair of close losses at Penn State and against Wisconsin following a big win over Ohio State.
Minnesota had a three-game winning streak squashed at Michigan State in a blowout on Wednesday, leaving a bad taste, almost as bad as the double-overtime defeat at Illinois to open the Big Ten season. The Gophers had prime chances to win that game in regulation and the first extra period.
The Illini have made a habit of tight games like this, their sixth straight decided by five points or less. That’s their longest such streak since 1929.
Gophers coach Tubby Smith made his usual mass substitution near the midpoint of the first half, with the Illini leading 15-8, and the game suddenly tilted the other way. The Big Ten’s leading shot-blocking team emphatically rejected a couple of shots — Williams on Paul and Elliott Eliason on Leonard — to get the crowd going. Then Armelin swished his first jumper, Eliason made a hook shot and Sam Maniscalco’s pass went sailing into the backcourt for a familiar Illinois turnover.
Armelin led the bench brigade, adding a couple of no-look passes for assists in the lane to his eight points and four rebounds in the first half. Oto Osienieks, the freshman from Latvia who picked a prep school in Carbondale, Ill., at which to learn the American game, hit a 3-pointer with 1:28 remaining before the break to give the Gophers a 30-25 lead.
Paul, who shot a combined 8 for 22 in the two games after his 43-point performance against Ohio State, was 2 for 9 in the first half. Minnesota’s bench outscored Illinois’ 20-5.
The Gophers kept their edge after halftime. Williams stole the ball on a full-court press and leapt from the wing outside the lane for a soaring dunk and a 39-29 lead, Minnesota’s biggest.
But then the rim tightened up on the Gophers at the line.
Dave Campbell
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have carried plenty of depth in their outfield for years. They’ve also had their share of uncertainty about who’s playing where and when.
Well, manager Ron Gardenhire sure quashed any lingering intrigue about this season’s lineup. Denard Span is the center fielder. Ben Revere will play left. Josh Willingham is in right.
Revere played so well in center in relief of Span last year, using his exceptional speed to make all kinds of gravity-defying catches, that the Twins could have moved Span to right. He thrived there as a rookie in 2008 when Michael Cuddyer was hurt. Willingham, the team’s highest-profile and highest-paid free agent signing, has rarely played right — only 19 complete games out of 799 in the majors.
But Span, long groomed to inherit the position from Torii Hunter, is not moving. Gardenhire made that clear this weekend at the team’s annual fan festival.
“He’s going to lead off and be my center fielder. That’s my expectation,” Gardenhire said. “If somebody were to tell me that he’s not able to do that, then we’d have to ad lib. But if Denard comes in healthy, then he’s my center fielder.”
Span played in only 70 games last season because of concussion and migraine problems. He said he now feels as good as he has in two years.
“Everybody knows I waited a long time to play center field. I’m very passionate about it. There’s a piece of me out there in that area,” Span said, making clear he’s willing to play right if the Twins preferred.
They don’t, and Revere doesn’t mind. His weak throwing arm is better protected in left field, and he has played there often in the minor leagues. Revere said he’s been doing long-toss drills with a football with his older brother to help build more strength in his arm.
“Denard, he’s our center fielder, and I want to play beside him, because we can cover so much ground,” Revere said. “We’ve played a bunch of games together, so we know each other so well. OK, he can get that, and I can get that. I know in the back of my mind. Usually, I can kind of take a peek at him a little bit, and he knows when I’m going to go and get it.”
As for Willingham’s ability to grow comfortable in right field?
“I’ll let you know after spring training,” he said.
When told he had appeared in 35 games in right with the Washington Nationals in 2009, Willingham’s eyes widened.
“Thirty-five games? Shut the front door. Really? I had no idea,” Willingham said. “Hopefully this spring I’ll just get a lot of reps out there and get comfortable. That’s the goal. Playing on the opposite end of the field, it’s different the way the balls come off the bat, so it’ll just take a little bit of time to get used to.”
He was signed to get on base and hit home runs, though.
“We’ll swing at ‘em and see what happens,” said Willingham, who homered 29 times last year for the Oakland Athletics.
Since Hunter left as a free agent following the 2007 season, the Twins have used several combinations of players in the three outfield positions, plus at designated hitter. Injuries played a part in the shuffling, as did slumps and versatility.
Carlos Gomez, Delmon Young, Jason Kubel and Cuddyer all have moved on now, leaving this unique trio to patrol the grass and produce runs at the plate. Trevor Plouffe also will see some playing time at the corner positions, and Rene Tosoni could carve out a roster spot as a backup. Top prospect Joe Benson will be pushing for time, too. But for now, there’s no mystery about who plays where.
“That’s exactly what I want. We’ve got enough question marks. We’ve got to figure enough things out,” Gardenhire said.
Other Twins tidbits
MY TWO CENTS: The trio of Revere, Span and Willingham should be a defensive upgrade over last year’s opening-day starting outfield of Young, Span and Cuddyer. Young, especially, always looked perplexed when an opposing hitter had the audacity to fire a fly ball in his direction. Always an adventure with Young stumbling around out there in left field.
Jon Krawczynski
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — It was a tense tied game late in the fourth quarter, one these nervous fans were used to seeing their Minnesota Timberwolves let slip away.
Ricky Rubio then splashed a 20-foot jumper through the net for a lead, and the rookie point guard raised his arms, urging them out of their seats and trying to reassure them that times are changing around here.
It’s certainly starting to look that way.
Rubio scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and dished out 10 assists to lift the Timberwolves to an 87-79 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.
Kevin Love had 18 points and 16 rebounds and Nikola Pekovic added 14 points and 10 boards for the Wolves, who have beaten the Spurs two straight times in the same season for the first time since 2000.
“We weren’t playing to win the game (last year),” Love said of a team that won just 17 times and faltered down the stretch on countless occasions. “This year, we’re playing to win the game. We’re confident. Real confident.”
Tony Parker scored 20 points and Tiago Splitter continued his strong play off the bench for the Spurs, scoring 12 points and grabbing seven rebounds.
But the Spurs scored only one field goal over the final seven minutes against a suddenly stingy Wolves defense. They also had only two offensive rebounds, which was a franchise record for a Timberwolves opponent.
Derrick Williams scored 12 points for the Wolves, who held the third-leading scoring team in the league 20.5 points under its average and outrebounded the Spurs 46-34 to improve to 9-10.
“It’s a terrific win for our guys, especially against a veteran team like that that wins those games all the time,” coach Rick Adelman said. “Hopefully it’s really a step forward for us.
The Wolves led 73-67 with less than nine minutes to play, but Parker kept the Spurs in the game by relentlessly attacking the rim. He scored on a driving layup, hit a pull-up jumper and then converted a three-point play on another explosion to the basket to bring the Spurs within 1 in a two-minute flurry.
Splitter then fed Gary Neal for a 3-pointer and a 79-77 Spurs lead.
Rubio responded with two free throws and a jumper, then fed Love for a layup that gave Minnesota an 83-79 lead with 1:45 to play.
The Spanish rookie raised his arms to cajole the crowd, who stood and cheered “Rubio! Rubio!”
Rubio had been mired in a terrible shooting slump over the last six games, hitting just 23 percent of his shots. He played more than 46 minutes in Minnesota’s surprising win at Dallas on Wednesday night, then followed that by hitting seven of 12 shots in 42 minutes against the Spurs.
“Even though I didn’t (shoot well) the last six games, I knew that I can do it because I work hard,” Rubio said. “My confidence is high. Sometimes your shot’s going to miss a lot, but you have to keep shooting because if not, that’s going to affect you.”
The Spurs are 10-1 at home this season, but they entered the Target Center just 2-6 on the road, including a 106-96 loss here on Jan. 2 in which San Antonio allowed the Wolves to shoot almost 58 percent for the game. That follows the pattern they’ve set all season, where they have allowed 104.4 points per game on the road versus just 89.5 at home.
“If we’re on the road and we hold somebody to 87 points, I think we have a good chance,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “I felt good about that. But like many NBA games, the last four or five minutes, whoever scores wins.”
The Spurs were much better defensively in the early going on Friday night, forcing three turnovers on Minnesota’s first three possessions and harassing Love into a 2-for-9 start.
But the Wolves turned the ball over just two times in the second half, Tim Duncan was 2 for 12 from the field and the Spurs offense ran out of gas.
The Wolves got Michael Beasley back from an 11-game absence because of a sprained right foot and Martell Webster played for the first time all season after having back surgery in September. Beasley had seven points on 3-for-11 shooting.
Love was playing his first game at home since signing a four-year extension worth more than $60 million. The deal allows Love to opt out after three years, which has the fans a little nervous. But they gave him a loud ovation upon introduction and hope that the Timberwolves continue their upward climb in the standings to keep him in Minnesota for years to come.
“This city is ready to explode,” Love said. “You can feel it.”
Dave Campbell
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Justin Morneau’s latest recovery is “right on schedule” for him to start this season at first base for the Minnesota Twins.
The former American League MVP, been beset by all kinds of injuries the last two years, said on Friday night he’s “hopeful” he’ll be fully healthy in 2012. Last year, he had four surgeries and a concussion and hit only four home runs in 69 games.
“It’s impossible to know what the future’s going to hold, but I’ve just got to listen to what my body’s telling me that day,” Morneau said at the team’s annual fan festival. “So far everything’s gone good.”
He had operations on his neck, left knee and right foot during the season and his left wrist right after it. After returning from the concussion that knocked him out of action for the last half of the 2010 season, he suffered a recurrence diving for a ball late in the year.
He said he still has headaches “once in a while” but that he’s felt great since 2012 began. His wrist is still tight when he swings, but he said it shouldn’t limit him once spring training starts next month. Morneau was so determined to come back healthier this year that he changed his diet after discovering his body doesn’t handle gluten well. He dropped 20 pounds.
Before July 7, 2010, when a knee-to-the-head collision at second base spawned the concussion that kept him out until the following year, Morneau was hitting as well as he ever has, producing at a similar rate as he did during his MVP season in 2006.
Since then he’s been a shell of his old self, and he doesn’t shy from thinking back to his pre-concussion form.
“There were a lot of things going right so when I kind of need to remind myself that it can be good again and it will be good again, I think back to that and when stuff was good,” Morneau said. “I’m not 38 going on 39. I’m 30 going on 31. So it’s not like I’m in that danger zone where everything slows down. There’s still a lot of time for me to become that player that I expect out of myself.”
Proper perspective helps. He and some of his Twins teammates on Friday visited Jack Jablonski, the 16-year-old hockey player who was paralyzed by a hit into the boards last month.
“They said he’d never move his left arm, but we were in there watching him do rehab and he’s moving his left arm and shaking our hands with his right hand. … I think a lot of guys left there speechless just seeing everything he’s gone through and how positive he was,” Morneau said.
Morneau is by far from the only Twins player entering the spring who’s eager to put a painful season behind him. Their 63-99 finish was caused by a number of factors, but the training room was crowded by the end of the summer.
“It was like we should’ve moved our lockers in there. Just make that the locker room,” said right-hander Nick Blackburn, who had a postseason operation on his forearm to fix a nerve problem.
He added: “It obviously wasn’t pretty, but I think everybody knows we have more talent than that. If we keep everybody healthy it should be a different story.”
Catcher Joe Mauer, of course, will be watched closely after confounding soreness and weakness in his legs plus a couple of illnesses ruined his 2011 season. He looked as fit and lean as ever on Friday, and general manager Terry Ryan said Mauer is in good shape to start the spring. Ryan spoke of an ideal scenario for 140 games apiece from Morneau and Mauer, the franchise cornerstones.
Then there’s center fielder Denard Span, who also dealt last season with concussion symptoms and migraine problems, albeit on a slightly less-publicized basis than Morneau. Span played in only 70 games last year, but he gave an upbeat update on his condition on the heels of what he called “one of the most depressing” seasons he’s had.
“This is probably the best that I’ve felt in two years,” Span said.
He started seeing a chiropractor, started a caffeine-free and supplement-free diet and has been participating in an eye therapy program on his laptop to strengthen his focus.
“I’m just ready to get out on the field, man, and test it out. Last year definitely was a tough year for me, a tough year for the team in general,” Span said.
The Twins sure can’t get any worse as a team.
“I can’t speak for the other guys, but I think everybody’s gone through the low-point and seen how bad it can be,” Morneau said. “We haven’t lost like that since any of us have been here, and I think everybody’s doing everything in their body to be ready and take care of themselves and do everything that can be done to play the way we’re capable of playing.”
John Shipley
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Tom Kelly, the manager who led the Twins to their two World Series championships, had his No. 10 retired by the club Thursday.
The number will be officially retired Sept. 8 in a ceremony at Target Field.
Kelly, 61, has been a member of Minnesota’s organization for most of the past 40 years, signing as a minor league free agent in 1971 and making his major league debut with the Twins in 1975. He is currently a special assistant to general manager Terry Ryan and the organization’s guru on infield defense.
“Few, if any, individuals have had as much direct impact on the success of the Twins franchise as Tom Kelly,” Twins CEO Jim Pohlad said in a statement.
Though Kelly managed the Twins for lean years at the beginning and end of his career, he led the franchise to World Series victories in 1987 and 1991 and helped develop homegrown players such as Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek. His 1,140 career victories are the most in Twins history, and he was named American League manager of the year in 1991.
Kelly, or “TK” as he is known to players, coaches and fans, is the first Minnesota manager to have his jersey retired and joins Puckett (34), Hrbek (14), Harmon Killebrew (3), Tony Oliva (6), Rod Carew (29) and Bert Blyleven (28) as former Twins receiving the honor.
• Former pitcher Camilo Pascual has been elected to the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame, as the 24th member.
The Cuban-born right-hander will be honored during a pregame ceremony at Target Field on July 14. He is 78.
Pascual spent 13 of his 18 major league seasons with the Twins and Washington Senators franchise from 1954-66. He was a five-time All-Star selection, and the Twins’ first in 1961 after the move from Washington.
Pascual led the American League in both complete games and strikeouts in 1962 and 1963 and helped the Twins to their first World Series in 1965.
MY TWO CENTS: Kelly got a little emotional after learning his No. 10 would be retired. View the video here. Who says there’s no crying in baseball?
Associated Press
ST. PAUL — University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler says TCF Bank stadium would be “quite adequate” as a temporary home for the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings could use the university’s football stadium for up to three years if the NFL team decides to renovate and continue using the Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis.
To host the Vikings, the Gophers would have to add seats and heat the outdoors field. University officials have said licensing and alcohol-usage policies would be negotiated, and Kaler says the university would have to work out other issues.
Kaler says there would be traffic, public safety and parking concerns, but all of them would “ultimately addressable.”
Minnesota Public Radio News reports Kaler said it’s still unclear how much it would cost for the university to host the Vikings.
