¡VIVA RIVAS!

With news breaking this afternoon that the Twins agreed to pay the difference in the land price war between Hennepin County and the land's owners, the team wasted no time announcing the official release of their ballpark design. I bet it's been burning a hole in the team's pocket since February. From the e-mail release:

After 10 years of waiting and wondering about what a new ballpark would actually look like, the Minnesota Twins are pleased to announce the unveiling of the official schematic designs of their new home in downtown Minneapolis beginning in 2010.

The unveiling of what the ballpark will look like will take place during a news conference on Thursday, April 12 at approximately 12:00 p.m. on the public service level (skyway level) of the Hennepin County Government Center at 300 South 6th Street in Minneapolis. A public open house will immediately follow the news conference where fans will have the opportunity to view the designs and renderings.

Officials from all entities involved with the planning and construction of the Twins new ballpark will be on hand Thursday to answer questions you may have.

And, for the latest Twins new ballpark news and updates, and to review the designs and information unveiled during the news conference and open house, please visit www.twinsbaseball.com/newballpark.

I. Can't. Wait. Papa Rivas want.

Johan wins the first game of the season
Mauer dumps the first hit into center
Morneau slugs the first HR
Torii rockets one over the fence
Rondell Un-dells

Sound familiar? I've got a good feeling about this season. Bring on the BOOF.

Plus-one Rivas to Morneau for his best Torii Hunter impression and bloodying the catcher's chin. Minus-two Rivases for inducing visions of Al Newman and getting thrown out by 10 feet.

(Reuters)

In honor of the 2006 AL MVP:
The video's entertainment value peaks in the first few seconds. After that, it's pretty much downhill. Although, go to the 1:50 mark to hear Morneau talk about wearing makeup.

fifth member: Carlos Silvtista. It's amazing what a $4.5 million guaranteed contract will buy you. In Silvtista's case, I'd say that's about three starts before the Twins usher in the Garza era. This of course assumes they learned from last year's mistakes. In all sincerity, reading the Twins comments this spring, it appears they exhausted their patience for Silva last year, so I stand by my three start prediction. I think Silva would look absolutely smashing in Rochester Red Wing red. Don't you?

(and yes, that's a gratuitous Batista ass shot. Don't fight it. Enjoy the view.)

A warm, fuzzy story today in the New York Times featuring Dougie baseball:

TAMPA, Fla., March 14 — Torii Hunter thinks about a former teammate whenever he tucks his 11-year-old son, Torii Jr., into bed.

“He has a shirt he sleeps in every night, a Doug Mientkiewicz shirt,” said Hunter, the Minnesota Twins’ center fielder. “It’s an old Twins shirt with holes in it. He’s probably getting too big for it now, but Doug is his favorite. He played with him all the time.”

...
“That is by far the thing I’m most proud of, the fact that we, as a group, took a franchise that if you finish .500, they were going to give you a parade, and now it’s like, if they don’t win a series in the playoffs, it’s a failure,” Mientkiewicz said. “Before we got there, it was a dismal place to play, because they weren’t winning. We always felt that we were going to win, and we were going to win soon.”

Our friends at PAB (Pulling a Blyleven) found this. Compares favorably to the now classic "Chacarron" video , no? And that's not even accounting for the lead singer's uncanny resemblance to my paisano Dennys Reyes...ok, maybe not. But imagine his face on the singer's body. I PROMISE you won't regret it:

Here are a few great Twins trivia from ESPN's Jayson Stark:

Has any team ever had three different players take home an MVP (Justin Morneau), Cy Young (Johan Santana) and batting title (Joe Mauer)? And the answer is: Yes -- but only one: the 1962 Dodgers (Maury Wills as MVP, Don Drysdale as Cy Young, Tommy Davis as batting champ).

...Schilling has pitched at least five innings in 147 starts in a row. Not only is that the longest streak by any pitcher in the last 50 seasons, just two other starters even got to 100 -- David Cone (145) and Bob Gibson (112). Next-longest current streak: 91, by Johan Santana.

And finally, here's a great one about Jim Leyland and his fungo bat:

Finally, one of the great mysteries of spring training is why Tigers manager Jim Leyland carries a fungo bat with him all day long -- but not necessarily to hit fungoes. "He has that fungo just to work on his (golf) backswing," Tigers coach-humorist Andy Van Slyke told Spring Fever. "But if you notice, he never follows through. He's afraid he might shank somebody."

In case you missed it:

Keep an eye on this Royals prospect. Don't look now, but the Royals could actually win 70 games this year.

Kyle Lohse has moved from bashing in managers' doors with baseball bats to bashing in Torii's head with a baseball.

Quotes of the Day, David Ortiz:

--“Manny is still crazy I’m still babysitting him. Same thing.”

Ortiz said the offseason was difficult in his Dominican homeland because he has become so recognizable (Despite Julio Lugo’s assertion that he could run for president and win, Ortiz said he had no interest in being a politician because everybody hates you once you become one).

--“I always tell people that everyone looks the same to me in Japan,” Ortiz joked. “Which is cool, man because I wish we could be like that in the Dominican, so we can hide.”

With all the great new blogs from the Twin Cities papers, I've resorted to writing about baseball fashion to contribute new content to the Twins blogosphere. I heard this interesting piece on NPR tonight on MLB changing their caps from classic wool to polyester. Why? No, not because George Costanza's visionary suggestion 13 years ago. Here's how a USA Today article explained the switch:

MLB and its Buffalo-based manufacturer, New Era Cap Company, say the new caps - making their debut opening day - look just like their predecessors. The samples certainly do.

But replacing the traditional wool is a polyester fabric that MLB and New Era say is designed to "wick" away sweat and evaporate it, resist shrinkage and fading and reduce odor and glare.

This means, of course, that John Wetteland's iconic sweaty cap, made famous during the Yanks' 1996 title run, will now be an impossible fashion accessory. First the wild card and inter-league play, and now polyster. What's this world coming to? (For all things sports fashion, visit www.uniwatchblog.com. The site is currently down, but should be back soon.)

NOTES:
If you take Torii's word for it, it's safe to draft him for steals in your fantasy leagues this year. There's nothing more entertaining than watching Torii pull off one of his signature steals, where he takes off before the pitcher even enters his wind-up. That brand of ballsy base theft was sadly absent from Hunter's game last year.

"I'm 100 percent," Hunter said. "You better watch out; it's going to be scary. I'm actually ready to go. I gained like 4 or 5 pounds, but I'm still agile, just to get a little more power. I've been working on my sprints, too. My goal is to steal a lot more bags and hit some home runs."

Some notes on the BitchSox:
Memo to Johan: Study up on Toby Hall. Pierzynski predicts he'll lose some AB against lefties to Toby Hall, who was signed this off-season as a backup C.

Here's a White Sox story line sure to make the Vikings insanely jealous: Shortstop Juan Uribe may have to return to the Dominican Republican twice a month until his home country's courts decide whether or not he was involved in a shooting this winter. Tank Johnson, you're so yesterday's news.

Some Indians news that somehow slipped under my radar last week: Keith Foulke announced his retirement. This puts the Indians in a bit of a bind, as they were banking on Foulke, whom they signed to a 1-year, $5 million contract, to provide some stability to the back end of their rotation. Joe Borowski, who saved 36 games for Florida last year, will enter camp as the team's closer. The bullpen looks to cause the team problems again this year. Cleveland signed over-the-hill veterans Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Fultz and Cliff Politte this winter to stabilize the 'pen after the team struggled miserably to replace closer Bob Wickman after he was traded before the deadline last year.

GYROBALL
The NY Times writes the gyroball exists, according to its inventor, but it won't revolutionize the game. It's essentially a pitch thrown like a spiral football that flies directly straight, fooling hitters who expect it to drop like a changeup or curve like a slider.

Well, I finally got around to figuring out how to use this PHP poll I downloaded in November. For the 2007 inaugural VivaRivas.com democratic exercise, please help steer Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau's musical tastes in a more, well, tasteful direction. For those who missed it, last month J & J attended a Justin Timberlake concert and gave it two thumbs up. Not to be a snob...OK, maybe so. But the point is, surely there are better ways to spend $33 million. That is what Ticketmaster is charging these days for concerts, isn't it?

So please vote for one of the next five artists scheduled to perform at the Xcel and help make the M & M boys not just great ballplayers, but great cultural citizens. I'll be sending the Minnesota Twins an e-mail with your cultural recommendation for Justin and Joe. No joke.

Voting closes whenever I want it to. And I'm going to try to figure out a way for people to vote more than once, so please check back or just vote at a different computer.