Hail to the Chief

I haven't updated in a couple days, because my internet access at home has not been working. That actually happens a lot, where you try to get on, everything is plugged in correctly and whatnot, and you get a 'cannot find server' message.
Midco sucks. Every time I see a Midco commercial on TV I dropkick a cat. It's one of my rules.
I can't even post from work, because my computer there is from like 1993. You might think that a reporter at a newspaper would be given top of the line equipment to work with, but you'd be way fuckin' wrong. My work-issue laptop uses Windows 95 and doesn't have internet access at all.
Anyway... Carlos Silva and Ramon Ortiz are now 3-for-3 in quality starts.
They have both actually been better than Johan Santana.
Even as bad as he was this spring, I didn't expect Silva to be as bad as he was for much of last year. But I certainly didn't expect him to pitch this well. But his sinker is sinking and he's throwing strikes. Good for him and good for the Twins.
If this keeps up, the Twins are going to be in very good shape.

*Jason Tyner is showing that last year may not have been a fluke, once again coming up with clutch hits, making solid contact, and using his speed to make himself useful on the bases and in the field. And he appears destined to finally hit a homer.
I wrote a column about his streak (approaching 1,100 at-bats) on Tuesday before the game, and my heart stopped in its tracks when Tyner doubled off the wall in his second at-bat (I would've had to re-write the damn thing if he'd actually gone deep, and I didn't want to do that).
Fans should keep in mind that Tyner's batting average is still not a real good indicator of his worth, because if you hit .300 with no power and no walks, you're not much more valuable than a .200 hitter who walks a little and homers once in awhile.
But he's definitely a valuable piece of the puzzle right now, if for no other reason than he can play LF or CF without screwing up, and he can put the bat on the ball.

*I didn't think the Mariners decision to send the runner home in the 9th was as bone-headed as the TV crew tried to make it.
Yes, Richie Sexson was on deck and yes, Michael Cuddyer has a great arm, but there were 2 outs and they'd already got 3 hits in the inning off Joe Nathan. What are the odds that he surrenders a fourth?
Plus Cuddyer went after the ball very nonchalantly after bobbling it, and it was reasonable to think he might get flustered and rush his throw when he saw the runner take off.
To Cuddy's credit that didn't happen, and he hit the cutoff man in the chest, and he (Luis Castillo) turned and hit Mike Redmond with a perfect strike and the out was recorded easily.
For the Twins that play should serve as a reminder that you can never ever take a play off. I say it was a less a bonehead move by the Seattle 3rd base coach and more a heads up play by Cuddyer.

*Mark Buerhle threw a no-hitter against Texas. I dont really like Buerhle, but that's pretty cool. Plus Sammy Sosa plays for Texas, and Sammy Sosa eats his own poop.

*The Wild are down 3-1 in the playoffs. They were down 3-0, before coming back to win Game 4 4-1.
At the end of the game, after the outcome was decided, Anaheim "enforcer" Brad May sucker-punched Wild defenseman Kim Johnsson, likely ending his season.
I'm not in favor of the NHL banning fighting, but the cheap shots in this league have to stop. The sport has few fans as it is, and I, as a big NHL fan, am becoming disgusted by the number of thugs like May, who have very little hockey skill, seriously injuring key players.
May was suspended 3 games, but it's not enough.
Here's my idea. Any player who takes a cheap shot (not including when two players agree to drop the gloves), has to sit for the number of games the injured player misses.
If you push a guy into the boards and he's out for the year, you're out for the year. If he misses 13 games, you miss 13 games. If he never plays again (I'm looking at you Todd Bertuzzi), you never play again.
There's a difference with fighting, where two guys agree to go hand-to-hand. But players should have the right to not engage in that kind of stuff if they dont want to.
Players like May are Neanderthals, and they ruin hockey.