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Live from Fort Myers: Feb. 20

Last update: February 20, 2008 - 9:13 PM

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'All Day' is OK with Gardenhire

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire showed up at the ballpark on Tuesday with an autographed Adrian Peterson Vikings jersey, and a reporter couldn't hold back his surprise.

"They asked me [last year] who we should take in the draft, I said Adrian Peterson," Gardenhire said. "That's not frontrunning. He played at [Oklahoma]. I grew up an OU fan. He's from Texas. I went to the University of Texas. So I got all bases covered."

Gardenhire said he lost a bidding war for a jersey recently at a fundraiser for the Concordia (St. Paul) baseball team.

"It got up to $1,000 and a guy jumped me to $1,200 and I said, 'Take it, I'm going to call the Vikings,' " Gardenhire said.

Hold on, Gardy.

"I didn't call the Vikings, but they got wind of it and a guy was nice enough to send me a jersey," Gardenhire said. "And I'm very pumped. I didn't use my authority, but I let it be known that I like him."

Speaking of Concordia

The Twins will play Concordia in an exhibition Tuesday on one of the back fields of the Lee County Sports Complex. Most of the younger Twins will play. Gardenhire has a great social, er, "working" relationship with the Golden Bears program.

The Twins also have scheduled an intrasquad game for next Wednesday. Their Grapefruit League opener is Feb. 28 against Cincinnati in Sarasota.

Watching BP

While pitchers and catchers worked out, a growing number of position players trained on a back field. Adam Everett, Jason Pridie, Brendan Harris and Carlos Gomez were among those taking batting practice and shagging fly balls.

It was easy to see why scouts rave about Gomez's short swing and excellent bat speed, as he sent a few well-struck balls over the fence.

Everett, who reported Tuesday, wants to prove he's more than the .232 hitter he was in 2007 with Houston.

"It's just a matter of going out there and doing it," he said.

LA VELLE E. NEAL III

3?s

JOSE MORALES

Catcher

Age: 25 (today is his birthday)

2007: .311 with two homers and 37 RBI for Class AAA Rochester. He went 3-for-3 in his major league debut at Chicago Sept. 8 but severely injured his left ankle on the bases that day.

1. So how's the ankle?

"It's definitely not 100 percent, and I'm sure it's not going to be 100 percent for a [while], because of what happened. I definitely feel like I can play. I know it's going to hurt, after what happened. I'm fine -- I've got a month and a half to get it right."

2. Wait a minute, how bad did you hurt it?

"Major ligament damage. It was real bad." [Morales has been cleared to play despite the soreness.]

3. So what was it like getting to the majors, unfortunately for one game?

"It was great. It could have been worse. My dad was there and he got a chance to see me play ... in my only game in the big leagues."

CAMP CHATTER

"You must be here early because you know Nicky is reporting today."

-- Twins catcher Mike Redmond at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, excited that his buddy Nick Punto was on his way to the ballpark.

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