Multiple firsts at Target Field, for Kyle Gibson and my friends

If you showed up late - after the first inning - to Target Field Saturday for the afternoon matchup between the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals, you missed most of the game's excitement.

The Twins beat the Royals 6-2 on a beautiful afternoon, and they scored five runs in the first inning. Kansas City pitcher Wade Davis had a lot of trouble finding the strike zone, which was evident by a number of walks. When he did find the zone, the Twins pounded the pitches for hits. It took 53 pitches to get through the first inning.

The key hits for the Twins came from Justin Morneau, with a two-run double, and Trevor Plouffe, with a two-run homer to left field. That got the crowd of 36,000-plus to its feet. It's not often the Twins put up a five spot in the first inning.

Davis struggled in the second as well and didn't even record an out before the Royals turned to their bullpen. The Twins offense was pretty well tamed after that. Davis threw 69 pitches and only recorded three outs, which apparently is a record for the highest number of pitches to get three outs.


The Kansas City Royals loaded the bases in the eighth inning Saturday, but
Twins pitcher Casey Fien was able to get out of the it with two strikeouts.
The baseball is in the white circle. Photo credit: Kevin Hanson.

First start 'at the major league level'
One of the most exciting things about the game however, was the major league debut of Twins starting pitcher Kyle Gibson, a 25-year-old righthander who was a first-round draft pick. He got the win Saturday, becoming the first, first-round pick to win his first start in the majors in Twins history. That's a lot of "firsts," but you get the idea.



Righthander Kyle Gibson pitched
six strong innings Saturday.

The first pitch Gibson threw was hit pretty well to the left field corner by Alex Gordon. From where our seats were, in section 329 in left field, I couldn't see where the ball was. Luckily it was caught for the first out of the inning. I was nervous that the ball was headed for the bleachers, and that Gibson could be in for a long day.

But Gibson had a strong outing. He got into a little trouble in the third inning when he gave up the two runs, but he got out of the jam and went on to pitch six innings for a quality start. He gave up eight hits and the two earned runs but didn't walk a batter and notched five strikeouts.

I think maybe some people thought he'd be back out for the seventh, so he didn't get as much of an ovation as he deserved after he walked to the dugout following the sixth inning and his 91 total pitches.

Reading the game recap from the Star Tribune, I guess Gibson wanted to go back out for the seventh as well. He told pitching coach Rick Anderson to leave him in until a runner reached base. Anderson didn't go for the idea from the rookie pitcher, which is probably just as well.

Gibson looks promising as a strong part of the Twins rotation that can have its share of off days. The Indiana native had a setback with Tommy John surgery in 2011, but I'm hoping to see him on the mound for awhile.

Reunion and birthday celebration at the ball park
The game Saturday was exciting for reasons other than the play on the field. I attended with four of my friends and former co-workers from the Austin Post-Bulletin. We started the day with food and drinks at Hubert's, and then got to Target Field just in time for the game.

For my friends - Kay, Kevin, LeAnn and Rose - it was their inaugural visit to Target Field. On such a warm, sunny summer day, I'm pretty sure they all enjoyed it. It helps when there's a good game being played as well.

Saturday, June 29, was also Kay's birthday. And boy, do we know how to celebrate birthdays. Did you also know that June 29 was the late Twins Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew's birthday, too? If you didn't, Kay will tell you. She's so proud to have that Harmon-birthday connection, and I don't blame her.

So to sum up Saturday's outing, it was a day filled with good weather, good baseball and good friends. One of those days that gives meaning to the saying, "time flies when you're having fun."

Happy birthday, Kay!

Kevin, Heather, Kay, Rose, LeAnn. Photo credit: Target Field usher.

Blackhawks win the Cup with two late goals

The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this week, defeating the Boston Bruins in six games. It's the second Cup for the Hawks in four years.

Usually I can find one team to root for over the other in a playoff series, based on a variety of reasons. But I really didn't care who won this time. I just wanted to see some good hockey. I was hoping for game seven, which looked pretty likely with a couple minutes left at the end of game six in Boston.

Then things got crazy for a 17-second period of time.

With Chicago leading the series 3-2, Boston took a 1-0 lead and looked good in the first period. The game was knotted at one goal apiece for much of the second and third periods. It just had the feel of a game where the next goal would win it, for a 2-1 final score.

Chicago took advantage of what may have been Boston sitting on its heels late in the game. Bryan Bickell (who scored the overtime goal in game one against the Minnesota Wild in the opening round, just saying) scored with 1:16 left. Tie game.

Overtime? Aww, not again.
Now, I was in my pjs on the couch waiting for the game to finish so I could go to bed after a long day. My first thought was: "I don't want to stay up and watch overtime." Which I would have, because it's the Cup. Maybe not the best sports-fan thing to say when a do-or-die game gets tied up, but whatever.

So, as play resumed, I watched Chicago grab the puck again and then watched in almost disbelief as Dave Bolland scored what turned out to be the Stanley Cup-winning goal. The tying and winning goals were 17 seconds a part.

It went from Boston looking like it'd force a game seven back in Chicago, to the Blackhawks forging ahead and finishing off the series right there. In 17 seconds. That's why they play all 60 minutes. All 60 of them.

I'm reminded of a line from D3: The Mighty Ducks, from Coach Orion: "How long does it take to score a goal? (throws a puck at the bulletin board with angry force) Less than a second! That means no lead is safe if you can't play defense."

He makes a good point.

Season's over
So with the hoisting of the Stanley Cup, and the booing of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman who presented the trophy, the lockout-shortened 2013 NHL season is in the books. The lockout was another embarrassing blow to the less-than-popular sport.

At least the Wild made the playoffs, even if they did carry on the growing Minnesota tradition of exiting in the first round. I hope the team can build on that for next season. I want them back in the playoffs, and I want them to win a series.

Tony Kanaan swigs the Indy 500 milk on his 12th try

To tell you the truth, I had every intention of writing a post-Indy 500 blog about Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan. I just had no idea I'd be writing it after he became an Indianapolis 500 champion.

Kanaan won the 97th running of the Indy 500 Sunday, on his 12th attempt at the greatest spectacle in racing. He finished first during a record-setting race. Kanaan's average speed of 187.433 mph broke Arie Luyendyk's record from 1990, 68 lead changes doubled the record set just last year of 34 and 14 of the field of 33 drivers led a lap at some point.

Sunday's race went down as an instant classic in my book. It was exciting from start to finish and was mostly full of green-flag racing. Cautions were at a minimum, and there weren't any real multi-car crashes that often plague races. Unfortunately, the race ended under caution after last year's winner Dario Franchitti, who struggled all month at Indy, hit the wall.

Who's gonna win?
With a jumbled field, it was tough to make a pick for the winner, but I went with 2012 IndyCar Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay, and my dad picked 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon. Many people picked Marco Andretti, who started third and ended up fourth. I think he and Kanaan were both sentimental favorites.

It's always a small victory when the field makes it through the first corner and first lap of green-flag racing. JR Hildebrand, who was one corner away from winning in 2011, was the first to meet the wall when his car got loose. Luckily, that wasn't a regular occurrence throughout the race.

The battles for the lead were constant between the front runners of Kanaan, Ed Carpenter and Marco Andretti. It was just an all-around good race, really. If you missed it, you missed out.

TK was a CART guy
Kanaan, also known as TK, is called a fan favorite. He earns extra points with me because he was a CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) driver in the years of the IndyCar split. He's won some races and has been a pretty average driver. Who knows how many races he would have won if he'd been a part of the powerhouse teams of Penske or Target Chip Ganassi.

After the grid was set for this year's Indy 500, my dad and I mulled over the jumbled field. Indiana native Ed Carpenter nabbed the pole, rookie Carlos Munoz started second (and drove a helluva race) and Penske and Target drivers weren't actually up near the front.

I asked dad about Kanaan, and he said he might end up being one of the great drivers to never win at the storied speedway of Indianapolis. I agreed with him. I figured Kanaan would join the ranks of drivers like Michael Andretti, who dominated races and led many laps, but never won at Indy thanks to the well-known "Andretti Curse."

Kanaan had his share of bad luck at Indy as well. He crashed as a rookie in 2002, he finished in the top 10 the next four years, he set a record by leading at least a lap in each of his first seven Indy starts (but he couldn't get a win), then he crashed in 2008 and 2009, he finished third in 2012. It just never seemed to be his day.

Until Sunday.

"I got a little bit of luck today," Kanaan said, in victory lane. "Again, it's for the fans."

Fitting Indy 500 champions
It was two years ago today, May 29, 2011, that the late Dan Wheldon won the Indy 500 for the second time. It turned out to be his last win ever, as he was killed in a terrible crash that October in Las Vegas.

Franchitti and Kanaan (along with former racer Bryan Herta) spoke about their good friend and fellow competitor Wheldon during his memorial service. It seems pretty fitting that Franchitti and Kanaan won the next two Indy 500s. Wheldon must be looking down with those big pearly whites of his.

Kanaan will turn 39 in December. That's not necessarily "old" when it comes to racing standards, but he's certainly a veteran. If he's considering retirement at all now or in the near future, I think his decision might be a little easier because at least he'll have his face on the Borg-Warner trophy.