I Miss Pat Neshek

I miss the good old days of baseball. A time when a certain pitcher would come out and pump out pitches traveling at superb speeds and making batters look absolutely silly. Then said pitcher would give the game over to a certain closer and the Twins would win the game.

The pitcher I'm talking about is Pat Neshek. Remember him? Neshek is known for his blogging skills and was a fan favorite the past couple of seasons before last season when he felt a pop in his elbow. Twins officials thought it didn't need surgery, so they did the Francisco Liriano and Joe Mays rehabilitation program. Unfortunatly, that didn't work and Neshek eventually had to go under the knife this past offseason.

Since then the Twins have used Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Eddie Guardado, Jose Mijares, Luis Ayala, and probably a flaming pile of monkey crap to try and bridge a lead over to Joe Nathan. Problem is, none of these relievers can hold water in a paper cup! Ayala has earned the nickname "The Human Tee" for his performances. While other Twins relievers look like they have their heads so far up their ass, they can't seem to see the light of day.

The latest episode of this happened Sunday afternoon against a slumping Seattle Mariners team. The M's had lost 6 games in a row coming into Sunday's tilt and Nick Blackburn wanted to make it 7. Blackburn threw 7 scoreless innings and probably should have gone out for the 8th. One problem. Blackburn had thrown 99 pitches up to that point. Sirens blared and lights flashed from the Twins dugout. One more pitch and Blackburn might have exploded. Good thing Gardy pulled him! 

Gardy then went to Jose Mijares. Mijares has been hearing from Rick Anderson to attack the plate. Mijares took that advice to heart over the winter and began busting buffet lines with Dennys Reyes and Boof Bonser. Mijares can't throw a strike now without doubling over from exhaustion. Mijares threw a hanging fastball which was belted by the greatest baseball player ever, Ken Griffey Jr.

Then came Gardy's next chip, Jesse Crain. The Royals actually wanted to give us a lot for Crain a couple years ago and we turned them down because he was supposed to be a stud. Well, the stud got euthanized Sunday as Crain faced three men. He didn't retire any of them and gave up 2 runs. To the bench you go!

To Guerrier's credit...he finally put out the fire. That was until Craig Breslow came in and gave up another bomb. The Twins are looking to win the AL Central this season and filled most holes in their lineup in the offseason. Too bad they couldn't get a reliever, because it might leave them short of their goal.