The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

All right. Fifteen minutes to first pitch. The biggest regular season baseball game in...what? I don't know. I can't think of a bigger one. And this is about as good as it gets --the game seven analogy that's been bandied about all day is valid. It's disappointing if your team loses in the playoffs (we should know), but, hey, they got there. A loss tonight would be heartbreaking.

No surprises in the starting lineups.

In terms of keys to the game, duh. Duh. And duh. It's a difficult game to play, but it's not that complicated.

Another day another bullpen failure for this eminently likable 2008 edition of the Minnesota Twins. Strib writer Jim Souhan, who so presciently clamored for regular innings on behalf of Denard Span and Nick Punto (while I mocked him for being "off his rocker") nailed the dilemma confronting manager Ron Gardenhire and the Twins these days in today's column-recap of yesterday's 3-2 loss to the lowly Royals.

1. The starters are young and need their arms protected for the future.

_{Jeff Roberson/AP}

The Minnesota Twins mean business in their new commercial. Morneau, Cuddyer, and Mauer wear ultra-cool Twins fan gear. They begin strolling to the soundtrack of Led Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused." In slow motion, the camera catches each individual, like a shot out of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. On location, at the under-construction open stadium, it's spring. Air gusts ripple Cuddyer's ringer t-shirt with the "TC" logo.

^{AP Photo by Duane Burleson}

Early April baseball in the Midwest can be a flat-out teeth-kicker. Baseball, of course, can kick your teeth in on a regular basis no matter the month, but shit like last night is brutal, even if it (literally) comes with the territory. Couldn't they at least have given us a rain delay, so we could have stretched out the night a little bit?

^{AP Photo, by Paul Battaglia}

^{AP photo by Tom Olmscheid}

Here's what I'd like to know: Since when are the New York Yankees in any position to play hardball with the Twins? Given the pitching situation in New York, and given the fact that this is a team that is now in the (for them) desperate position of playing second-fiddle to the Red Sox, would you not think that the Twins should have all the leverage in a deal for Johan Santana?

You have to imagine that the new Yankee regime would be willing to pull out all the stops to get Santana, and if they're not, they for damn sure should be, or fuck 'em.