A journey in meaninglessness

The MLB.com article on Boof's start against the Pirates on Saturday claims his rotation spot is not official. Sigh. Who cares?

Boof struck out 5, gave up 7 hits, walked 0, allowed 0 runs over 4 innings. He has yet to walk a batter all spring.

Official

In what everyone already knew, Ron Gardenhire declared that Boof officially has a rotation spot. Although he does run the team, Gardenhire didn't have a lot of other options.

To make this a post worth posting, have another Bonser pic:

Boof's first card as a Twin

Perfect!

A perfect outing against the Marlins...worth noting? Why not.

from twins.com:

Twins on the mound: Boof Bonser made a strong statement in the race for a starting spot as he threw four scoreless innings. Bonser did not allow a hit or a walk and struck out three, as the only baserunner reached on a Michael Cuddyer fielding error.

Don't be fooled by that statement. MLB.com makes many settled spring training roster spots "battles" to increase readership. Boof's in the rotation.

From twincities.com:

"I'm trying to get as many guys out as I can," Bonser said. "I don't need no trouble. I don't want no trouble, let's put it that way. Let's keep it rolling."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire would like to see Bonser keep it rolling as well.

"Pitching-wise, we threw the ball well," Gardenhire said. "We like to see Boof attack the strike zone, and that's what he did."

I think Boof has a good strategy. Get guys out.

Sarcasm never comes off well in print. Give Boof credit for trying.

Much better

Boof fared much better in his second outing of the spring, pitching 3 shutout innings, allowing only two hits and striking out three against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Bucs aren't the White Sox or Tigers, but still.

Ouch

Boof made his spring training debut against the Cincinnati Reds today, and it didn't go very well. Our dear Boof lasted only one inning, giving up 3 runs and 5 hits, including a two-run home run to Scott Hatteberg. He did manage to strike out a batter.

For his first time out, I suppose he didn't do too terribly. Boof has always been a Bob Wickman-style starter. He gets the job done, but you're usually too busy cowering in fear to notice.

Hey, with Sidney Ponson guaranteed a spot, Boof could decide to take up the left-handed knuckleball and keep his starting spot.

"There's a lot of Boof"

A close call: Jason Tyner drove Boof Bonser's changeup right back at Bonser on Sunday. Though he was pitching behind a screen, Bonser barely avoided having the seams of the Spalding baseball tattooed on his torso.

In the give-and-take of Spring Training, his teammates who saw it were giving Bonser a heavy dose of teasing. Gardenhire threw in his two cents' worth, as well.

"Boof," he said, "that ball wouldn't have been close to most guys. But there's a lot of Boof behind that screen."

from twins.com

The more Boof, the better. We want him in the majors for a long time.

No word yet on when Bonser will make his 2007 Spring Training debut. The Twins kicked off their pre-season yesterday, and played another game today. Carlos Silva was hit hard (what a suprise) in today's contest.

Will update as situation warrants.