SPORTSbyBROOKS

Video: Wild Falcon Hunts Prey From Atop Foul Pole

Brooks — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:10:22 +0000

The biggest star of Target Field isn’t a member of the Twins. It’s a wild hawk prone to dismembering opponents from high above the MLB team’s new diamond.

The falcon, named “Kirby” by fans participating in a Fox Sports North poll, has been seen throughout the season perched atop a foul pole at Target Field after dark. That high-profile perch is the hawk’s home base as it dines on moths attracted to the stadium lights.

Kirby has become so popular that he’s attracted the online birdwatching community at AskTheBirds.org.
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Cringe Cities: Plan For 50 Mauer Statues Panned

Brooks — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:10:20 +0000

Paul Walsh of the MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE reports that 15 statues of Joe Mauer “will soon be scattered around downtown Minneapolis as part of a fundraising effort for the Minnesota Twins Community Fund and to celebrate the team’s 50 seasons.”

(Finally a handy use for newsprint!)

The first statue will be unveiled on Friday, outside a Target store. (Naturally.)

The Mauer statues will stay downtown all baseball season, then the sponsors are free to move them inside or donate them, said Twins spokesman Kevin Smith. The cost for each statue is about $13,000, Smith said.

If you think 15 statues of Joe Mauer in downtown Minneapolis isn’t enough, you’re in luck.

While there potentially will be 50 statues placed, Smith said, they will only be made as sponsoring agreements are reached.

50 statues of Joe Mauer in downtown Minneapolis?

Let’s see what some of the commenters to Walsh’s story in Minneapolis have to say about that: (more…)

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Twins Rollout Heartworm-Resistant Frosty Malts?

Brooks — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 22:07:32 +0000

Bad idea: A bull terrier with a bullseye painted around its left eye.

Really bad idea: A bull terrier with a bullseye painted around its left eye sitting in the best seat in the house during the first-ever Minnesota Twins MLB game at Target Field.

(Waste? I’m off to snap up a gross of mattress pads as we speak!)

The dog, named Bullseye and the mascot of Target, was stationed in a $275 face value seat today as guerilla marketing by what are obviously the brightest box store minds in the biz.

How (pre)fab!

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New Twins Ad Features Joe Mauer In Bubble Wrap

jason — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:50:31 +0000

The Minnesota Twins are leaving the Metrodome and relocating to the brand-new state-of-the-art Target Field. To remind fans of this fact, the Twins have put together a TV commercial showing movers at the new digs delivering the goods - such as boxes, championship trophies, and Joe Mauer encased in bubble wrap.

Video of the full ad after the jump.

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This Isn’t The Chuck Knoblauch I Remember (Sob)

Rick Chandler — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:30:44 +0000

I call this one: Chuck Knoblauch, the Harris County Jail Portrait. Here’s what steroids and a fistful of Xanax can lead to, kids. Of course I knew that the former Yankee and Twin was arrested last month for allegedly assaulting his common-law wife, but this is the first I’ve seen of his mugshot, unearthed by THE SMOKING GUN. So let’s just go ahead and make this Mugshot Friday, OK?

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The Hangover: Did Celebration Cost Twins ALDS?

Rick Chandler — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:00:24 +0000

So the Twins are taking some heat today over their raucous post-game celebration after winning the AL Central on Tuesday. Look at the photo above, and then consider the lead in today’s MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE game story on their 7-2 loss to the Yankees:

Almost predictably, the Twins came up a little flat against the Yankees after Tuesday’s 12-inning thriller.

Almost predictably? Hopefully anyone not connected to the Twins left the lockerroom quickly on Tuesday and laid down a tidy bundle on the Yankees with their friendly offshore bookies. This was the biggest sure thing since the Nazi blitzkrieg was declared the favorite vs. the Polish cavalry. (more…)

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The Metrodome’s Final, Awesome, Two-Night Party

Rick Chandler — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:00:14 +0000

If you don’t count the film “Little Big League,” was there ever a more magical two-day stretch in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome than Oct. 5-6, 2009? First Brett Favre switches jerseys and tames the hated Green Bay Packers, then they take a few hours to sweep the place out and people file in to do it all over again, the Twins winning a one-game playoff with the Tigers in 12 innings, 6-5.

It wasn’t exactly Rio after winning the 2016 Olympics, but it was about as raucous as Minnesotans get. And we shall never see its likes again: The Twins are gone to a new, open-air home next season, the Vikings left to share the dome with the occasional garden expo and Promise Keepers evangelical Christian service. (more…)

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The Vikings Welcome You To Mall Of America Field

Rick Chandler — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:15:18 +0000

If you’ve ever been to the Mall of America, then you know that it takes up several acres, the merchandise is expensive, there’s lots of food and often hanky-panky is going on in the restrooms. Just like the Metrodome. Well, now the two have merged, in a sense.

No longer will it be known at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome … sorry, Hubert. When the Vikings take on the Packers on ~~Sunday~~ Monday, it will be at the Mall of America Field at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, thanks to a new naming rights partnership that was signed today. And to mark the occasion, of course, the Vikings again threatened to move to Los Angeles when their lease is up. (more…)

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Manny Belts Grand Slam On His Bobblehead Day

jason — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:15:50 +0000

• Manny Ramirez does his bobbleheads proud with a pinch-hit grand slam.

• But Minnesota Twins legend Harmon Killebrew isn’t so impressed.

• Michael Vick supposedly spent his first day of freedom at a strip club with Allen Iverson. But the no-longer incarcerated QB denies such reports.

• The Cambridge cop accused of acting racist against Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was also the one who tried to revive Reggie Lewis after the Celtics player suffered a fatal heart attack.

• White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle hurls a perfect game, thanks to a great catch by Dwayne Wise. Guess Ozzie Guillen made the right move, after all.

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Killebrew Cuts Down Manny For Passing Mantle

Adam J — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:45:50 +0000

After Manny Ramirez passed the great Mickey Mantle for sole possession of 15th place in career home runs, the venerable Twins great and Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew told the MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE that “to see his name above Mantle’s on the list . . . that’s a shame.”

(A hero, yes, but an authority on PEDs?)

Killebrew was a contemporary of Mantle’s; each terrorized the AL en route to well over 500 home runs and both are members of the Hall of Fame, but there the similarities end. While Mantle’s well-known as a prolific party animal, Killebrew eschewed the lifestyle, telling SPORTS ILLUSTRATED back in 1963 that for fun, he “like[s] to wash dishes.”

So it’s that disconnect from Mantle’s world that provides the only possible justification for the ignorance displayed by Killebrew with that statement.

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