Lauren Picks Series November 5, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: baseball, phillies, predictions, world series, yankees
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Very quick post, but I just wanted to congratulate my wife Lauren Poulter Glanzer for being the only participant in my annual baseball prediction game on ryanglanzer.com to correctly predict the World Series would be Yankees over Phillies! These picks were made before Spring Training even started.
Baseball experts Marcie Glanzer, Jeff Thompson, and Andrew Baker also correctly predicted the Yankees to win, but not against the Phillies. And Calvin Krogman got the Yankees-Phillies matchup correct, but predicted the Phillies would win.
We won’t know who the official winner is until the MVP and Cy Young Awards are handed out, but Lauren is looking good to finish first out of 25 participants.
Sadly, I predicted just two playoff spots correctly (Twins and Phillies) and my World Series prediction of Indians over Cubs looks absurdly foolish.
I Was at the Greatest Game Ever October 7, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: baseball, detroit tigers, metrodome, minnesota twins, playoffs
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Gomez scores; Twins win the AL Central
320,000 fans tried getting tickets to yesterday’s winner-take-all Twins-Tigers showdown at the Metrodome in the one-game playoff for the division title. I was lucky enough to get tickets in the 7th row behind first base. Liz, Curt, Sarah, and I watched on for 4 hours, 37 minutes, and twelve innings of the most gut-wrenching, nerve-wracking, mind-numbingly unbelievable sports game I’ve ever seen.
The largest crowd for a regular season game in Metrodome history stood throughout almost the whole game, waving Homer Hankies and screaming. The noise was so deafening that it was tough to talk to the people right next to me, especially when Orlando Cabrera’s two-run homer gave the Twins a 4-3 lead in the seventh. Everyone was hanging on every pitch. Every pitch ended up being excruciatingly important.
Time after time after time, the Twins looked like they’d blown the game. Detroit had runners on first and third with nobody out in the ninth, but by some miracle Joe Nathan got out of it. They left the bases loaded in the 12th with one out and Bobby Keppel of all people got out of the jam. The Twins used all their relievers except Liriano as well as most bench players. And the Twins kept faltering when they had chances to win, like Alexi Casilla getting thrown out at home on a fly ball by Punto.
Finally, Casilla’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the twelfth ended it and the Twins mobbed at home plate after a 6-5 win. No one left their seats (except an exhausted Sarah) for ten minutes after the game, still screaming and waving Homer Hankies as the Twins took a lap around the Metrodome field.
I literally kept thinking it was over, getting dejected, wanting to leave, and then bam! The Twins would come up with a miraculous play to turn everything around. And my hopes would be so high that the Twins would win the game, and then the Tigers would do the same thing and escape a jam. Just back and forth for so long. It really was exhausting.
I am just happy to say that I was in attendance for that game. I wasn’t following the Twins in 1991, but this game had all the drama and heroics of Game 7.
And then I walked/jogged 45 minutes home, completely physically exhausted and soaked, partially from the rain but mostly from standing and cheering for so long.
It was such a great game that I’ve barely even thought about the fact that they have a game against the Yankees in a few hours.
I will write later about the much more important matter at hand—our wedding this weekend!
Twins, Tickets, 9/28, and City Driving Tips September 28, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, wedding, work.Tags: baseball, detroit tigers, driving, homecoming, metrodome, minnesota gophers, minnesota twins, twin cities
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This week’s Twins-Tigers series can probably be called the biggest, most important regular season series of the year in all of baseball. It’s the lone divisional race, and features the two teams going head-to-head for four games. The Twins, trailing Detroit by two games, need to win three of four or they’re done. Regardless of what happens, I have to admit I was wrong once again after giving up on the Twins in August when they fell six games under .500. The team has 81 wins now, earning them at least a .500 record on the season. One more win and they’ll have a winning record for the eighth time this decade. I’m sure I’ll be glued to the screen for most of the series.
Also regarding the Twins, this Sunday should be entertaining as I head to the Metrodome with Lauren, Walsh, and Sarah for the final Twins game in the Metrodome. I had a couple extra tickets I bought in March for $21 apiece, and was able to sell them online for a cool 300% increase of $65 each! Wish we would have bought more. And I was thinking of it that day too, but I really couldn’t afford to go buying dozens of tickets at that time.
Today at work will be a unique day. It is my 928th day at the office and the date is 9/28. I am expecting something amazing to happen at some point throughout the day. This day wouldn’t have even been possible except I took a sick day after the bachelor party, holding my number of days worked back a day. Thrilling, I know!
With the wedding coming up a week from Saturday, many out-of-towners will be coming to the Twin Cities for the weekend. A lot of people, especially from South Dakota, are very worried about driving in the area. To be fair, we are throwing them into a very busy part of a very busy city on a very busy Gopher homecoming weekend. I can remember in 2001 when I took a road trip with Brandon and Guy how we left at 1am so we’d get to Minneapolis early in the morning, hoping to avoid traffic. But it turned out to be super easy and there we sat at 6am waiting for our hotel check-in time at 3.
So, here is some advice and words of encouragement to those of you who will be driving here for the first time.
1. Heavy traffic means you go slower, thereby giving you more time to look for your exits or find out where you need to go.
2. Unless you get really lost and wind up in North Minneapolis, there really aren’t that many “bad” areas.
3. If you are overwhelmed taking the freeways, do what I do and stay on the side streets. I take Hwy. 7 to work instead of driving up to 394. And I take Franklin Ave. all the way to our reception site instead of going up to I-94.
4. Most streets in the city are either in numerical or alphabetical order, and preceeded by a N, S, E, or W. Use logic to find out where you are in relation to where you need to be.
5. As long as you can find your way to one of the major highways, you should be fine. If you wind up on 35W, 494, Hwy 62, Hwy 100, or Hwy 169, I’d think you’d be able to figure out where you are fairly easily.
6. Go through yellow lights, don’t stop at them. This isn’t Huron, after all!
7. Everyone speeds. I get passed going 65 in a 55 by 10mph every day. Not to say you should speed, but the locals always do.
Twins cost me sleep; Family visits July 24, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, mom.Tags: baseball, jordan, lauren poulter, los angeles angels, minnesota twins, mom, oakland athletics, texas rangers, weekend
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It’s been a very long week, mostly due to our local baseball team’s absurd streak of losing ridiculous games. Whatever happened to losing a game 7-4 in nine innings, or something normal like that?
The Twins this week suffered the following heart-wrenching losses.
- Sunday: Lost to Texas 5-3 in extra innings. Bullpen blew a late lead, and R.A. Dickey allowed a 2-run walk-off home run to Ian Kinsler.
- Monday: Lost to Oakland 14-13. Twins built a 12-2 lead after 3 innings, but Nick Blackburn and the bullpen suffered a monumental letdown, and then Michael Cuddyer was called out at home on a very bad call in the 9th to end the game.
- Wednesday: Lost to Oakland 16-1. Led 1-0 after the top of the first, but Oakland answered with 5 in the first and 7 in the second off Glen Perkins and Kevin Mulvey.
- Thursday: Lost 6-5 to Los Angeles in 10 innings. Led 5-3 going to the ninth, but Joe Nathan proved he’s human by blowing a save, and then Jesse Crain got hammered in the 10th.
Add on the fact that our starting third baseman is likely headed to the DL, and the fact that these games start late because they’re on the West Coast, and it made for a week of abbreviated sleep and lots of agony. Yet somehow, the team remains just 2.5 games out of first behind the Tigers and White Sox. If the team would make some sort of trade deadline deal, maybe they could pull ahead. But they won’t because they never do.
In other news this week, Mom and Jordan visited the Twin Cities for a girls-only shopping trip. From the load I saw packed into the car Thursday, it appeared the trip was a rousing success. Lauren and I did our best to play tour guides. On Tuesday evening we met up with Mom, Jordan, the Poulters, and Rosoks for dinner at a Famous Dave’s that Mom had a $100 gift certificate to after we saw a mouse last time we were there. Afterwards, I took them on a tour of the city and drove around for an hour. On Wednesday after work, we again met up for dinner, this time trying out one of our favorites, Jasmine 26 Vietnamese. I drove downtown again so Jordan could try her hand at some urban photography. And on Thursday, the two stopped by Microboards on their way out of town to say goodbye. Looks like they made it home as Jordan posted a new blog last night.
This weekend will be one of our very few remaining relaxing weekends until after the wedding! After that, I have several weekends of DJing, and we start to have wedding stuff on the weekends like showers and bachelor parties. Not a lot for plans for the weekend, but Lauren insists I must try a free yoga class with her Sunday.
Casilla Wins It; I Admit Usual Pessimism April 7, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: alexi casilla, baseball, mariners, twins
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You can ask Lauren, I was so angry halfway through the Twins game tonight I left the house and vowed not to return until I had burned off a little steam.
With the Mariners up 4-0 in the fourth, I angrily stormed out of the house and went to the gym where I could put the Twins out of my mind. There, I ran like a damn fool on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes, burning nearly 600 calories. I walked home and found the Twins down just 4-3, and was calmed down and able to watch the rest of the game.
It looked like a sure Mariner win though, as they tagged on another run in the 9th to make it 5-3. With the Twins down to their final strike with no one on base, they unbelievably managed three straight walks, an infield single, and then the big Alexi Casilla two-run single for the 6-5 win. I was speechless… I was without speech! Boy did I feel like a fool for angrily storming off just four innings earlier.
But that’s the way it goes. It hasn’t changed much in the last 16 years since I first began following the Twins. It also makes for an easier day at work, because if they lose, a dozen or so co-workers always come up to me and ask me why the team lost the night before and I have to try to explain it.
Opening Day Going Just as Planned April 6, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: baseball, mariners, metrodome, mlb, opening day, twins
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It’s 5pm, and I’m sitting here on the couch wearing my Twins jersey and new red Twins hat, watching the Orioles/Yankees game on ESPN, the third game I’ve watched a part of today.
I woke up a little after 8 and immediately went to the gym to get my workout for the day out of the way. I was surprised how busy the gym was on a Monday at 9am. I came home and showered, then walked two blocks to the Sunny Side Up Cafe where I ate a delicious Mexican Eggs Benedict breakfast. Seriously, that place has some wildly unusual but awesome breakfast selections.
I came home and began the waiting game, waiting very impatiently for the first game of the day, the Mets @ Reds, to start. Soon the Lynch brothers arrived and we spent the afternoon flipping between that game and the Indians @ Rangers game, and eventually the Yankees @ Orioles. Sadly, the Rays @ Red Sox was rained out and the Royals @ White Sox was snowed out. But I had enough selection to keep me satisfied.
Now I wait for Lauren to get home from work, and Tim and Kate Rosok to arrive. I’ve got those awesome season tickets in the seventh row behind first base for tonight’s Twins/Mariners game, the final home opener in the Metrodome.
I was trying to remember all the recent Twins’ home openers I’ve attended.
2002: I was awarded free tickets from WCCO Radio after a series of interviews with the local media. Nick accompanied me. I think the Twins beat the Tigers 4-2.
2003: I bought 27 tickets to the home opener vs. the Blue Jays. Yes, 27 tickets. I tried to buy 13 for a group of DSU friends, but soon realized we needed 14, so I canceled the order (or so I thought) and bought 14. Something went wrong and I wound up with 27 tickets, but was somehow able to easily get rid of all of them. Good thing I knew so many Valleyfair friends. The Twins lost to Toronto, I think.
2004: Jason, Liz, Charlie, Patrick, Travis, and I took in the opener vs. Cleveland. We were all very drunk. I talked to CC Sabathia that day! The Twins won a thriller in extra innings, 7-4.
2006: I was awarded the company season tickets and gave them to Liz, Patrick, and Walsh. The Twins beat Oakland 7-6 behind a Tony Batista homer.
2007: I took in the Twins/Orioles game with a former girlfriend (Marin), Patrick, and Walsh. The Twins won 7-4 and Morneau and Hunter hit back-to-back homers.
2008: Lauren, Patrick, Walsh, Nick, Sarah, and I took in the Twins/Angels game in a blizzard. The Twins won 3-2. We were all very drunk.
2009: I have the company season tickets again, but I am not going to be drunk this time. I think I’ll just enjoy the game in a normal state. Hopefully it’s a Twins victory!
Add the 1991 Card to the List February 5, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, random.Tags: 1991, baseball, topps
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Here’s the latest—the fabulous 1991 Topps card. I will probably do a few more years (‘92, ‘93) while I’m still entertained by this current pointless project.
My 1991 Topps card!
Twins Chatter December 5, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: baseball, brendan harris, brian buscher, delmon young, joe nathan, minnesota twins, mlb free agents, mlb trade rumors, nick punto
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With the Winter Meetings just around the corner, I think now is a good time to go off on a little Twins rant. Those of you uninterested in baseball may want to just move on to the next post.
There have been quite a few interesting rumors involving the Twins this offseason, most notably the team targeting free agent third baseman Casey Blake. I have no problem with Blake. In fact, having him not play for any of our opponents is a good thing—Blake has terrorized the Twins over the years. But I do have a little problem with Blake, and that’s that two of my favorite players are the two who platooned at third last year, Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher. I really like the idea of keeping them at third, rotating in and out, as opposed to going after Blake. And I have this issue with signing Blake, because the Twins had him in their system in the late 90s and got rid of him twice! If I were Blake I’d have it in for the Twins.
What the team really needs to address is shortstop. I don’t think I can bear another season of Nick Punto starting and getting over 500 at-bats. The only good thing I can say about Punto is his tenacious hustle and gritting it out, much like a young Ron Gardenhire with the ‘83 Mets. That must be why Gardy likes him so much. If he could be had in a trade, Yunel Escobar would be my top choice, but I’m sure the Twins will do whatever necessary to ensure Punto gets re-signed and slotted into the starting shortstop position. Come on Mets and Phillies, step up your offers for Punto!
The next “problem” is in the outfield. The Twins have five capable outfielders—Denard Span, Carlos Gomez, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young, and Jason Kubel—and only three outfield spots and one DH spot to put them. All should be starters, so unless Cuddy is going to move back to the infield, there’s a problem. Gardy recently told reporters his dream outfield consists of Gomez, Span, and Cuddyer, with Kubel presumably at DH. That leaves former #1 overall pick Delmon Young without a place, and he’s definitely not a guy you’d put on the bench. I have to disagree with Gardenhire; I think Young should stay and Cuddyer should go. Young is 23, just hit a very respectable .290, and has a lot of upside. Cuddyer is 30, has been slowed by injuries, and really only had one great season in 2006. I’d be really disappointed if the Twins traded Young this offseason and gave up on him so quickly. But like I’ve said before, injuries will eventually put someone on the shelf, and the team will be wishing it had another outfielder. If Young is traded and someone gets hurt, Jason Pridie will be up from AAA.
The biggest mess of all on the team is in the bullpen, especially now that we know Pat Neshek’s not coming back till 2010. Not that long ago, the pen was the team’s strength. If the starter could get into the sixth with the lead, the Twins were sure to win. Last year, Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier were less than impressive, Juan Rincon was so bad the Twins finally gave up on him, and the Brian Bass experiment clearly failed. The Twins did get a huge boost from rookie Jose Mijares late in the year, and Joe Nathan is still as good as ever. If the Twins are going to make a trade this offseason, hopefully they can upgrade the bullpen. I think the lefties are set, with Mijares and Craig Breslow. But I’d like to see a trade for a reliable right-hander like Huston Street. I don’t have a lot of great ideas otherwise.
My suggestion would be keeping Buscher and Harris at third, and letting Punto sign elsewhere. If the Twins are going to trade Young, send him to Atlanta for Yunel Escobar to play shortstop. The Twins were one of the best overall hitting teams last year, but they severely lacked home run power. I wish there was a chance the Twins would go after a power hitter, but who would that be and where would he play? I guess the Twins are thinking Blake at third would be the answer.
But regardless of what the Twins do, I think they’ll be just fine. Last year was looked at by many as a rebuilding year, and instead the Twins came within one run of the playoffs. It looks like the White Sox are retooling a little and should be a good team again; I highly doubt the Indians will fall flat on their faces for a second straight year; and the Tigers ‘08 disaster had to have been a fluke.
MLB Pick’em Game Comes to Close November 17, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in baseball.Tags: awards, baseball, mets, minnesota twins, mvp, phillies, predictions, rays, red sox, seth stohs, tigers, world series
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It took eleven whole months after the RyanGlanzer.com MLB Pick’em Game began, but today, after the announcement of the National League MVP, a winner has come forth. (A couple people could move around a little after tomorrow’s AL MVP announcement, however.) The 2008 champion, knocking off ‘07 champ Josh Pomplun, is popular Twins blogger Seth Stohs, who is the only person out of 32 to pick even one of the two World Series teams. Stohs’ prediction of a Red Sox-Phillies World Series earned him the extra points needed to win the game.
My scoring system was a bit odd.
- 1 point for each correct division winner or wild card winner
- 1/2 point if you picked the playoff team, but not the correct spot (i.e. Brewers winning Central)
- 3 points for a correct World Series team representation
- 1 additional point for picking the World Series champion
- 1 point each for AL MVP, NL MVP, AL Cy Young, NL Cy Young, and AL and NL home run leaders.
- In the event of a tiebreaker, Nick Punto’s batting average was predicted
Here are the final standings. Tiebreakers based on the Punto average. I’ll also include everyone’s World Series predictions!
- Seth Stohs, 6.5, Red Sox over Phillies
- Gil from San Diego, 5.5, Dodgers over Red Sox
- Eric Olson, 5, Angels over Brewers
- Alex Glanzer, 4.5, Tigers over Mets
- Brian Lemke, 4.5, Mets over Red Sox
- Josh from Burnsville, 4, Tigers over Mets
- Calvin Krogman, 3.5, Mets over Tigers
- Brian Giggee, 3.5, Mets over Red Sox
- Dusty Hovde, 3.5, Indians over Mets
- Steve Ellingson, 3.5, Mets over Red Sox
- Aaron Pratt, 3, Red Sox over Mets
- Dan Virchow, 3, Angels over Mets
- Chris Walsh, 3, Mets over Tigers
- Craig from Moorhead, 3, Red Sox over Diamondbacks
- Jon Mueller, 3, Mets over Red Sox
- Josh Pomplun, 3, Red Sox over Braves
- Greg Dean, 3, Red Sox over Mets
- Charlie Ahern, 3, Royals over Mets
- Tovar Creole, 3, Pirates over Rangers
- Jeff LaPlant, 3, Reds over Red Sox
- Jason LaPlant, 2.5, Twins over Dodgers
- Colin Goldman, 2.5, Mariners over Diamondbacks
- Josh Krueger, 2.5, Mets over Tigers
- Matt Hanson, 2.5, Twins over Mets
- Kyle Henning, 2.5, Mets over Tigers
- Ryan Glanzer, 2.5, Tigers over Diamondbacks
- Justin Korbel, 2.5, Tigers over Mets
- Lauren Poulter, 2, Tigers over Cubs
- Chris Ahrendt, 2, Mets over Tigers
- Bryan Hagen, 2, Tigers over Brewers
- AJ Sabako, 1, Yankees over Marlins
- Marcie Glanzer, 0.5, Yankees over Reds
Interesting to note that the only person to pick the Rays to make the playoffs was 19th place winner Tovar Creole, who also picked the White Sox to win the Central. Unfortunately, that’s about all he got right, as he picked the Pirates to win it all.
Go here to see everyone’s complete preseason picks.
Live from the CMAs November 12, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in random, wedding, work.Tags: baseball, cma awards, george strait, jeff laplant, lady antebellum, lauren poulter, taylor swift, wedding
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Today was a pretty crazy day, both at the office and at home. I’m sure talking about work-related stuff will get me in trouble, but the basic idea is the economic hardships meant the company had to make some cuts. Tough times, indeed. Lauren and I checked out another possible wedding venue and really liked their outdoor ceremony area, but were less than thrilled with their reception ballroom, which had a giant pillar going right down the middle of the room that would block out people’s views. We also had some Indian food with the LaPlant boys. Jeff is now a JC Penney employee, specializing in the sale of window drapes.
I just cooked up a little dinner and now we’re watching the CMA Awards on ABC. I don’t know if “CMA Awards” is redundant or not. I assumed CMA stood for Country Music Awards. So to add “Awards” to the end of it is pointless and a little ridiculous, much like my ticket stub from the Twins’ 2002 ALCS appearance. The ticket said 2002 American League ALCS Series, or if you spelled it all out, the American League American League Championship Series Series.
Speaking of the awards, I must say there are far more performances these days than awards. There have to be like 23 performances and just ten awards or so. I’ve told Lauren in the past that I occasionally enjoy the music of Taylor Swift, but she really has struggled and looked out of her element the few times I’ve seen her perform on a big stage. George Strait’s still got it, though I wasn’t nuts about his new song. Kellie Pickler wore a skimpy little leather outfit for her song, which took much of the attention away from whatever song she sang. And Lady Antebellum has been having a great night. We’re yet to see who will be the big “buzz-worthy” surprise performer. I’m putting my money on Mickey Rooney if he’s still alive.
How much longer till baseball starts?
