Babes Love Pat Neshek!

You can imagine how pumped we were when our favorite side-winding hurler, Pat Neshek, was awesome enough to do an interview with us.

The Minnesota Twins reliever with the funky delivery landed on the disabled list back in May of 2008 with a right elbow injury, which ended up being serious enough for Tommy John surgery. After more than a year of rehab, he signed a one-year deal with the team last month and is feeling better than ever.

Not only is he a hell of a pitcher, but he's a really nice guy, too: you might even call him the most fan-friendly player in baseball. Got any sweet hockey cards gathering dust? Then go check out his long-running blog On the Road With Pat Neshek, where he writes about big league life and swaps autographs for trading cards.

Enjoy!

Babes Love Baseball: Our first question is one you probably get a lot. Why did you start throwing side arm?

Pat Neshek: It basically evolved from an injury in high school. I was batting at the plate and got drilled on my forearm. It really lumped up and hurt, especially when I went out to shortstop that next inning. I quickly realized it didn't hurt as bad when I lowered my arm slot to sidearm. Well to make a long story short, I finally was able to pitch after 3 months of playing shortstop, and when I went on the mound that first time everything felt great. But I didn't realize I was throwing a lot lower than before thanks to all the throwing at shortstop. After a couple days trying to change it my college coach thought it looked pretty nasty and told me to work with it. It worked out pretty well.

No More Neshek Shuffle

Pat Neshek and the Minnesota Twins saw the bad news coming.

The side-winding set-up man injured himself on a slider in the eighth Thursday against the Chicago White Sox, describing the feeling as a "tweak" in the joint. After an MRI on Friday revealed an acute partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow-- the same ligament repaired during Tommy John surgery -- he landed on the 15-day disabled list.

Neshek won't be throwing any baseballs for at least three months, which pretty much leaves him out for the season, but surgery isn't likely.

"So we're going to prepare for opening day next year. It just needs a little bit of time to heal and a little bit of rehab to build it back up," he said.

In 15 appearances this season (13.1 innings) Neesh was 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA with 15 strikeouts. Replacing him on the roster is lefty Glen Perkins, who was recalled from the AAA Rochester Red Wings to start Saturday again the Boston Red Sox. Rightys Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier will share the eighth-inning load for lights-out closer Joe Nathan in Neshek's absence.

Well, at least they won.

[Star Tribune]

Of Course Joe Mauer Smells Nice

I had to post this video, mainly because I'm a shameless Twins homer who loves Pat Neshek... and Joe Mauer.

Curtsy to the guys over at 10,000 Takes...

Pitch in For Pat Neshek

In the timeless words of The Temptations "I ain't too proud to beg."

You guys have like, 6 hours and counting to get out there and Vote for Pat Neshek. Seriously.

Twins Nation has made it easy for you to be productive at work, using your time wisely to put one of the best and most fun to watch relievers in the Mid-Summer Classic.

Also, you must check out the Youtubes if you have not done so already.

*Umm... don't let the fact that Neshek just gave up a two-run go-ahead shot to Hideki Matsui in the eigth inning change your mind...

[Twins Nation] | [Twinkie Town] | [On The Road with Pat Neshek]

Room For Two More on the All-Star Roster

The initial sweep of All-Star Voting is behind us, and if you're sad that your favorite player didn't make it, try to pull yourself together.

You have a chance to vote for him a second time, if he happens to be a pitcher on the final-vote ballot.

Babes Love Pat Neshek

As previously mentioned, Pat Neshek and his incredibly strange but accurate delivery has lowered his ERA to 0.92 after Saturday evening's 2.1 inning outing against the Blue Jays.

If you're like me and just can't get enough of Neesh, check out his website "On The Road With Pat Neshek" which he updates more often than a Major Leaguer probably should.

He also offers signed Neshek merchandise in trade to fuel his autographed baseball card obsession, I mean collection.

Pat Neshek's Official Site