@Randballsstu joined us at Target Field today as we were two of the 36,286 fans that represented the smallest crowd in Target Field history. It was particularly sparse at first pitch just after noon; we can't really blame folks, as there was a threat of rain, it was a Wednesday afternoon, it was April and it was against the Royals.

Still, the weather turned out much better than we thought -- and much better than the on-field product. Francisco Liriano was cruising through three hitless innings. Then the Royals struck for eight hits and six runs in the fourth -- not all of them rockets, but enough of them fairly well-struck to cause more alarm on the Liriano front -- and the Twins, despite scoring five runs (tied for the most they've scored all season) couldn't come all the way back and eventually fell 10-5.

For those of you on the Vikings/Twins parallel alarmist watch, this was game 11. That finally constitutes more than 1/16th of a baseball season, and therefore a 4-7 start can be considered the equivalent of 0-1 in the NFL. Not all hope is lost. But we can say with authority: The Twins lost to the New Orleans Saints on Wednesday. Let's see if they can rebound over the next 11 or so games and ease these comparisons.

That picture? One of the fun-loving Twins fans seated in front of us. Sure looked like a tattoo of Wisconsin from our seat. Just. Can't. Get. Away.

Still: Was it better than being in an office? Of course. Don't feel bad for us. Until ...

The gluttony for potential punishment continues tonight. We are attending, as you might know, Part II of our day-night doubleheader. Target Center beckons. Fan appreciation night. Wolves vs. Rockets in the regular-season finale.

We heard from David Kahn's state of the team address today -- among other things -- that the "status quo is not acceptable." We should think not.

We're hard-pressed not to think we'll be watching Kurt Rambis' final game as head coach tonight based on Kahn's words, but then again what do we know?