twins/mlb

The Blog: Twins Geek
The Blogger: John Bonnes
URL: www.startribune.com/twinsgeek
In real life: Bonnes, 37, is an independent systems analyst with two children. He regularly refers to his wife in his blog as The Voice of Reason.
About: The earliest of the Twins blogs. Many entries deal with Sabremetrics, the evolving field of in-depth analysis of baseball statistics.
Hours spent per week: 5-10
Quote: "The idea behind starting it was to provide more analysis than what you get in daily papers. I was tired of reading shallow coverage that was built around gossip or a story line that was or wasn't in the game. And I thought you could do some real analysis of baseball and still keep it entertaining enough that people would want to read it."

The Blog: Aaron's Baseball Blog
The Blogger: Aaron Gleeman
URL: www.aarongleeman.com/
In real life: Gleeman, 21, is a journalism student at the University of Minnesota.
About: Sports Illustrated recently mentioned it as one of the best baseball sites.
Hours spent per week: 5 hours on his own blog, plus more as founder and contributor to hardballtimes.com.
Quote: "I always wanted to write about sports, because all I think about is sports... Basically, I just wanted to write, because I'd always be e-mailing people and talking to people about the Twins, and I'd think, I should put this down somewhere. Good practice."

The Blog: Bat Girl
URL: www.bat-girl.com
In real life: A full-time writer, Bat Girl, 31, occasionally shares the blog with her husband, Jeb, brother, Goober, and sister-in-law, Sooz.
About:: The slogan is "less stats, more sass."
Quote: "Batgirl's got a bit of a different aim than the other blogs, we're striving to be the "Daily Show" of Twins blogs. I read the other ones because they're really informative--these guys think very smartly about baseball. They've added to the quality of baseball writing in the Twin Cities; the local media don't give that much space to baseball compared to other cities, and now there are all these other quality options. Batgirl probably wouldn't get past the censors."

The Blog:: Seth Speaks
The Blogger: Seth Stohs
URL: www.sethspeaks.net
In real life: Stohs, 29, is a product services analyst at Marvin Windows & Doors in Warroad, Minn.
About: Seth Speaks covers the entire Twins organization, with emphasis on top minor league prospects.
Hours spent per week: 15-20
Quote: "I first did an internet search, ironically, for 'Twins Geek,' just to be funny. And, when the Twins Geek site came up, I thought it was great. Then I found the Dickie Thon Twins Fan Forum and Aaron's Baseball Blog. I realized that I've been a Twins fan for a long time. I have opinions and am analytical and can also write a little bit. I finally decided that I was going to start my own blog."

The Blog: The Baseball Boys
The Bloggers: Eric Justman Reichert and Josh Blakely
URL: thebaseballboys.typepad.com/
In real life: Reichert, 32, does sales for an audio-visual company. Father of three, he only posts a couple entries a week, unlike most of the Twins bloggers. Blakely is an attorney in Milwaukee.
About: Blog covers both the Twins and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Reichert covers the Twins, Blakely the Pirates. Reichert describes it as "silly little game recaps with a little info thrown in."
Hours spent per week: 5
Quote: "My buddy Josh and I were sitting in a bar one night talking baseball. He wanted to write about more statistical stuff. I just wanted to write - I was an English major in college, so I said, let's do it. It was this love of baseball coupled with a love of writing and just wanting to do something different."

The Blog: Will Young's Twins Page
The Blogger: Will Young
URL: www.wyoung.net/twins
In real life: Young, 22, grew up in Richfield and recently graduated from George Washington University in Wash., DC with a double major in international affairs and history. He is now pursuing a Master's degree in sports management there.
About: Created The Big Board, which has every player in the Twins organization all the way down to backup catchers in the rookie leagues. Wrote a 19-page analysis of Terry Ryan's trades as general manager.
Hours spent per week:: 1 hour updating Big Board and Bullpen Usage charts, plus about 4 hours writing blog entries.
Quote: "The reason that baseball attracts so many bloggers is the ability to find a new story everyday. Each game is its own drama in which even the smallest details can be scrutinized. Plus, the players are out in public for three hours everyday so even their smallest mannerisms can be discovered through enough observation. For example, J.C. Romero is doing his best to carry on the role vacated by Eddie Guardado as the Left-handed Reliever Who Adjusts Himself at Least Once Before Every Pitch."

The Blog: Twins Chatter
The Blogger: Ryan Maus and John Betzler
URL: twinschatter.blogspot.com/
In real life: Maus and Betzler are 20-year-old college students. Maus is a sophomore at St. Olaf, leaning toward a journalism or English major, while Betzler is a political science major at Minnesota State University in Mankato.
About: They describe the blog as a cross between statistical or "sabermetrical" analysis, observations, and opinions.
Hours spent per week: 4-6 each
Quote: "John and I have each been die-hard Twins fans for over 10 years. We've known each other since third grade, and still communicate almost daily despite attending different colleges. As the 2004 season approached, John suggested that we should start our own blog. I had never considered the idea, but the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became. We each had plenty of opinions and knowledge to share, and we each enjoyed writing. It made perfect sense to combine two of our favorite pastimes: writing and the Minnesota Twins. Blogging was a great way to accomplish that."

The Blog: Stick and Ball Guy
The Blogger: Ken
URL: www.stickandballguy.blogspot.com/
In real life: An engineer for many years, Ken, 39, recently graduated from law school and began working for a Minneapolis firm. He is getting married in January, which he expects will affect how much time he blogs.
About:Blogs about sports in general, with emphasis on the Twins.
Hours spent per week: 2-3 hours writing, plus time thinking of topics for entries.
Quote: "I used to send [Twins Geek] an email about this or that - different topics. And then he had a link to Aaron's blog, and I read that, and thought, I really like this. So I started reading these guys' work all the time. I got this bar exam out of the way and I thought, what the heck, I'm going to start writing. I was basically writing for my dad for a couple of months. I just started because I really like the Twins, I really like baseball. I just want to write a little bit about it, to give me something to do between the exam and starting a job."

The Blog: The Bad Twin
The Blogger: Tony Larson
URL: thebadtwin.blogspot.com/
In real life: Larson, 21, is a full-time student at Metro State University with double majors in English and writing.
About: "I'm just the ultimate armchair quarterback. You've got a group of Twins bloggers that are statheads and a group that are semi-statheads and then you've got me. I just watch the games, and I don't care much about numbers, I just call it like I see it. I try to be cynical and full of hyperbole for entertainment value."
Hours spent per week: No more than 5 hours a week, and he took the summer off.
Quote: "I like being a part of a community of very diverse and interesting writers. I like it when I vent something and three days later Michael Cuddyer is the starting second baseman. I know my blog probably had nothing to do with it, but hey, I like to think I make a difference."

The Blog: Greet Machine
The Blogger: Shane Nackerud
URL: blog.lib.umn.edu/snackeru/greet/
In real life: Nackerud, 31, is Web Services Coordinator at the University of Minnesota Libraries, where he manages the UThink blog project. Father of three, he leads a Cub Scout pack.
About: Blog focuses heavily on stadium-related issues, along with the Twins, some Vikings, and a little bit on the kids as well.
Hours spent per week: At least 5 hours a week.
Quote: "Every time I watch the Twins now, whether on TV or in person, I can't help but think about their need for a new stadium. It consumes me. Can you imagine having to put suntan lotion on for a Twins game? Or seeing a game played on real grass? I don't care about Carl Pohlad and his billions, or Torii Hunter and his millions for that matter. I care about me and the rest of the Twins fans in the upper Midwest. Let's build the stadium for us."