enjoy the fourth-snowiest month in recorded Twin Cities history? I thought so! Here’s yer linkies.To begin with sad matters http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , Pema Levy re-examined the Kirby Puckett sexual-assault case from 2002, interviewing various legal advocates from both sides. Basically, the consensus is “he did it,” although opinions vary on whether the evidence was strong enough to prosecute. (Puckett received a “not guilty” verdict, but had several other well-documented instances of violence towards women.) It comes up now because the then-chief-Hennepin County attorney, Amy Klobuchar, is running for President. Was choosing to prosecute the case about justice or ambition? (Could, of course, be both.)Jacque Jones was just found liable for violating California’s revenge porn laws, will pay the victim $67000, and may be responsible for far more money in reimbursing her legal fees. Recap from when the case was filed in 2017 here. (H/T to DJL44 for catching the story.)More happily, A’s pitcher Daniel Mengden saved some puppies. They’d fallen in a storm drain, and Mengden had fishing waders at home nearby, so he saved puppies. Aww! (He also had a cave-exploring headlamp for some reason.) And Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle stood up for hat-factory workers in New York state.Collusion confusion: Nothing too big on this front Jimmy Wynn Jersey , although players are still suspicious. Francisco Liriano says that he got identical minor-league offers from several teams all on the same day. The league has floated an idea of revisiting the CBA before it expires in 2021. (Don’t trust ‘em, players!) And while not strictly collusion nor illegal, the union is pretty ticked about Toronto making BS excuses to start heralded prospect Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. in the minors.(By the way, I always wanted Guerrero, Senior, to open a head shop after he retired. So then we could call him “Vlad The Inhaler.”)Pittsburgh’s owner says he’s too poor to spend anything on salaries, bringing the number of teams who’ve admitted this out loud to essentially, Everybody Except The Phillies/Padres. The Nationals will be charging fans who bring backpacks to the stadium. And Atlanta is selling T-shirts that instruct fans on how to do the hideous “tomahawk chop.”Neil DeMause has a fascinating read on why the Rays can’t sell tickets. Essentially, the ballpark’s in the wrong spot, the owner’s a jerk, and Florida has so many spring-training / minor-league options fans can watch games for much cheaper.Odds & ends: Some of you may recall that FSN’s Marney Gellner paired a little bit with local biker Dan Gladden for some play-by-play work in Ft. Myers. Apparently she’s pretty tight with the Gladden family, and they rib each other a lot. Fortnite legend Trevor May was featured (only in photo form) on an article about Fortnite players, which the author describes as a game where “you hit the wrong button and die a lot.” A.J. Pierzynski once had a contract announced by a guy in a ham store.A college game was delayed when Eagle fought Osprey over fish http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , and the fish fell on the field. (Now my stupid news feed keeps giving me college baseball scores, which I don’t want.) And Rays pitcher Shane McClanahan played catch with some little kid at a spring game. It went... awkwardly.Baseball will be trying some rules changes in the minors soon. You can read about them here. And cracking down on the use of cameras to steal signs in MLB.And, finally, Bryan Murphy at the SB Giants’ site had the best summary yet of current MLB executive groupthink (in an otherwise unrelated article about the team’s bullpen). Here’s some selections:Yup.Don’t stick your hand in a jammed snowblower, anybody! DENVER — German Marquez will start Saturday for the Colorado Rockies, seeking to continue his recent success that largely is the result of a couple of subtle changes. He will try to slow the torrid St. Louis Cardinals.St. Louis beat the Rockies 7-5 on Friday night to improve its record this month to 18-4, the four losses each being by one run. The Cardinals (72-57) extended their road winning streak to nine games, the longest active streak in the majors and the longest by the Cardinals since April 28-May 10, 2017.The Rockies (70-58) are 1-4 this season against the Cardinals and 1-7 dating back to July 24, 2017.Article continues below ...Marquez (11-9, 4.42 ERA) will be opposed by left-hander John Gant (5-5, 3.76), who has started and relieved this season and lately has found his footing in the Cardinals’ rotation.Marquez has pitched at least seven innings in four of his past five starts, including Sunday at Atlanta when he gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings and came away with a 4-2 win. In his past nine starts Charlie Morton Jersey , Marquez is 6-1 with a 2.87 ERA. In his last five starts, he held opponents to a .206 average and .606 OPS with eight walks and 39 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings as the modifications he worked on with pitching coach Steve Foster and bullpen coach Darren Holmes have taken hold.Holmes said they worked with Marquez on staying tall in his delivery and working with a consistent tempo. Holmes said Marquez was “hinging,” which is pitching parlance for not having his lower and top halves in synch, resulting in getting too tilted as he leans back in his delivery.“Then he’s fighting to get back down,” Holmes said. “So we talked to him about staying tall and not really worrying about getting weight into his legs as far as power, because his power comes from a quick arm.”In addition, Marquez has worked to deliver his pitches with the same amount of time from the first movement in his delivery until his front foot touches the ground.“Every pitch he had was different,” Holmes said. “Consistent timing with everything (was the goal). And he’s done a great job doing it. Sometimes he slows down a little bit in the first inning and that’s something that he’s working on — to be more aggressive early.”Marquez has allowed 28 runs in the first inning, 17 more than in any other inning.Holmes said Marquez was slower with his changeup and his curveball, but sped up his tempo when throwing his slider.“We took the fastball, curveball, slider, changeup and made them all the same tempo,” Holmes said. “If he’s up http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , his tempo is slow. If he’s throwing scuds, his tempo’s too fast. So every time now, he recognizes it.”Marquez is 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA in two career starts against St. Louis, but he has not faced the Cardinals this season.Gant, who has never faced the Rockies, will be pitching in his 20th game this season and making his 13th start. In his past three starts, Gant is 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA, a stretch of 15 2/3 innings in which he has not allowed a homer with three walks and 11 strikeouts.He lost his last start Sunday against Milwaukee, giving up two runs and six hits in 4 1/3 inningsGant has been more effective against right-handed hitters, limiting them to a .197 average and .521 OPS with no homers in 161 plate appearances. Left-handed hitters are batting .234 with a .727 OPS and six homers in 174 plate appearances against Gant.“John’s fit in the rotation and acclimated very well,” Cardinals interim manager Mike Schildt said. “He’s a good athlete, good preparer. He’s got weapons, so he’s able to be effective against righties and lefties.“He’s got a nice changeup. He’s got a good breaking ball. He throws his fastball to both sides of the plate. He’s got good sink on it. And he can throw all of them at any time in any count. He’s a real pitcher. He trusts his stuff. He’s got the weapons and he knows how to use them. They’re all quality pitches. They’re not just show pitches; they’re effective pitches.”