Kent Hrbek: The Big Hrbowski

Pretty sure the Twins might need some Hrbowski-type magic this season.

Twins Give Gardy Victory #700

Babes Love Baseball would like to give an ever-loving shout out to Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who earned career manageral victory #700 Tuesday night with a 8-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

After the win, the Twins toasted their skipper on the milestone that gives him a 700-585 record over eight seasons, leaving the club 2.5 games behind the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers with 11 games left to play.

Way to go, Gardy.

[MLB.com] | [RealGM] | [Twins Killings]

Fastest Skipper Gets Fined for Being Slow

Ron Gardenhire, manager of the Minnesota Twins -- the fastest team in baseball -- was fined an unknown amount Tuesday, along with Houston Astros skipper Cecil Cooper: both a bit edgy when it comes to umpires and bad calls.

But the two were not fined for ump-bumping. They were disciplined for "failing to comply with pace of game regulations last weekend."

Bud Selig is a crotchety old bastard has shown recent concern with the speed of games these days. *cough* so old *cough* So, he asked teams and officials to enforce the game-pace rules, including the 12-second pitching rule.

Here's where things start to get ridiculous. An average nine-inning game played this season lasts 2:51:42. That's a 29-second increase from last season and a 5.5-minute spike from five years ago. According to Elias, the length of a ballgame in 1981 was typically 2:33. If you're like me and you're awesome at math, you'll know that we get 18 more minutes of baseball now!

If there's such a concern, why don't they stop driving Dodge trucks out onto the field every three innings to waste time during Cialis commercials? Just a thought.

I can't really imagine ever thinking a baseball game is too long. Except this one time a few years ago when the Twins went 18 innings (and lost) against the Red Sox. They stopped serving beer in the 7th... pretty sure I was drunk, hung-over and sober without ever leaving the Metrodome.

Speaking of the Dome, check out We've Got Heart's latest article on women and baseball: an interview with Andrea Larson, Corporate Communicatons Manager with the Twins.

[MLB]