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Twins: Live from Fort Myers

By A Daily Update By Our Staffers

Last update: February 20, 2007 - 7:07 PM

Funky deliveries, but not the same pitcher

Mike Venafro has pitched in 307 games over seven seasons. So imagine the double-take he did Monday when he was jogging off the field and a few fans yelled, "Hey Pat, can we have your autograph?!"

Venafro looks nothing like Twins reliever Pat Neshek. He's 33. Neshek is 26 and is about 20 pounds heavier.

"They see the way we wear our pants," Venafro guessed.

They both wear their socks high. They both have funky deliveries (Venafro is a lefthanded sidearmer, Neshek is, er, Neshek). And they are dressing in neighboring stalls, giving Venafro plenty of time to learn more about the man he allegedly resembles.

"I've heard he has a website," Venafro said. "It must be pretty good because he gets a lot of mail and it's spilling over to my side."

Venafro then pointed to a copy of a 2006 super registry of every player in baseball that was loaded with dog-eared pages -- a tipoff Neshek is a student of the game.

Other players' games.

"I asked him his stats from last year, and he couldn't remember," Venafro said.

Blasts from the past

Several former Twins already are at camp as extra instructors, with more on the way.

Tom Kelly, Tony Oliva and Terry Steinbach worked with players on Tuesday. Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew and Paul Molitor are expected to arrive soon.

LA VELLE E. NEAL III

LET'S MEET ...

Ken Harvey, DH/1B

Age: 28 • Ht: 6-2 • Wt: 250

2006: Missed entire season because of a ruptured Achilles' tendon.

Scouting report: Harvey is a classic hacker: few walks, bunches of strikeouts. But a lot of good things have happened when the pull hitter has made contact. He was an All-Star in 2004 with Kansas City; he batted .287 with 13 homers and 55 RBI that season.

Outlook: Would need some luck to make the roster. Best shot is to start the season in the minors and be insurance in case someone with the big club gets injured.

CAMP CHATTER

"Fort Myers is probably the best spring training community in all of baseball."

Twins President Dave St. Peter, noting the interest in the Twins and Red Sox this spring.

BEST OF THE BLOGS

Joe Christensen: Torii Hunter regaled newcomer Mike Venafro with stories about how much his old teammate, Jacque Jones, used to hate facing the sidewinding lefthander.

"Jacque would be like 3-for-3, feeling good," Hunter said. "And I'd be like, 'There's your boy Venafro warming up in the bullpen.' He'd say, 'No, not Venafro! Not Venafro!' "

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