Weekend Links with Jon Marthaler: The Twins and Charles Barkley

Jon Marthaler bakes up a batch of delicious links just for you. Other times, you can find him here and here. Jon?

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Good morning and happy Saturday! The weekend links took a hiatus last weekend thanks to a RandBall vacation, meaning I've got two weeks of links to get through and no words to waste up top. On with the links!

*With the Twins in full swing - and losing five out of seven out East - the amount of must-read analysis out there is reaching epic proportions. I'm forced to go with a list, rather than a paragraph:

• Nearly two weeks ago, John "Twins Geek" Bonnes thought that Trevor Plouffe might be turning a corner in his career, much like Denard Span did. Fast-forward: Plouffe just went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI in his major league debut. Bert would say that sounds like a call.
• Adam Peterson checks in at Twinkie Town with a typically super-analytical read: a different way of looking at batting average on balls in play. If there is ever a monthly Twins research journal, Peterson will probably be the president, lead reviewer, and most-published author.
• At the TwinsCentric Strib blog, Nick Nelson thinks that 2009 Twins draftee Kyle Gibson could be following in Matt Garza's footsteps through the organization. Meanwhile, Parker Hageman says we're seeing a different Delmon at the plate.
• And then, there's your "Oh, that's not good news" link of the week: Hageman shows that Kevin Slowey's struggles may be due to a serious drop in "nastiness." That Slowey wrist injury has me worried all over again.
• Last but not least: Andrew Kneeland checks in with Glen Perkins at Triple-A, and, well: Uff da.

*The Sports Media Watch blog interviewed Charles Barkley, who is always fun. Here's Part one of the interview; here's part two.

*The NCAA is considering allowing its hockey players to wear visors instead of full face shields. Chris at Western College Hockey notes that the research shows this is a bad idea, at least in terms of safety and injuries, and really what other terms are there?

*And finally, we have two "and finally" links this week: the T-Wolves Blog wants to fix the lottery and actually has a workable, TV-friendly solution... and The Sports Economist has a serious take on the Australian Football League's slightly funny search for an American Aussie Rules star.

Sure, there's a lot there, but it's too humid to go outside anyway. Turn on the air conditioning and stay inside. (This message brought to you by the Very Low Threshold for Anger at Summer Heat organization.)