Photos from last night's epic baseball game

So Minnesota beat Detroit 5-6 in a one-game tiebreaker for the AL Central Division title and a crack at the seemingly invincible New York Yankees. Here are some pictures from that epic battle last night...

I don't mean to be gross here, but I'm pretty sure this is the exact same thing that groupies see at the end of the night.

What do you mean I'm not playing in the World Cup?

"RAWWWRRR!!! Haha scared you! That's what I do. Because I'm big. And scary."

"Man this Riverdance thing really sucks"

"Well now that everyone left, I'll just sprawl out here and take a nap. Times are tough and I just live in the MetroDome now. Has an excellent big screen television"

Many hefty bags were killed in the making of this dome.

"What a minute... you're not Brett Favre... DAMMIT!"

What wasn't caught after this photo was him curling up in a ball, sucking his thumb and refusing to leave the playing field until he was given his orange slices and Capri Sun.

"So I paid this guy 20 bucks to carry me around. Yeah, these unemployed people are all around the place just looking for jobs. They'll do anything."

"Oh Sh**! Hold on guys, I lost a contact. Crap! Nobody move. I lost a contact..."

"Ha! You think you can beat me in this handshake contest. Think again. Your about to give up. You're wincing! You're wincing! Give up? Awww, nooo? Okay we're still going..."

JustSON the Numbers: Baltimore Orioles

This just in: Catcher Matt Wieters for the Baltimore Orioles is making his debut today at 7:05 pm eastern time at home against the Detroit Tigers.

Coming into the season Wieters was voted the #1 prospect by Baseball America. This will be Wieters first regular season game in the majors, he was called up from Triple A Norfolk after batting .305 with a .387 on base percentage, a .504 slugging percentage along with 5 home runs and 30 RBI. Many people are comparing the 6 foot 5 inch, 230 pound switch hitting catcher to the Minnesota Twins backstop Joe Mauer. Wieters, who is 23 years old, is being added to a batting lineup that boasts some very good, very young hitters.

The average age of the starting 8 Oriole position players as well as the designated hitter is 28.3 years old. Consider third baseman Melvin Mora is 37 years old himself, and that really shows how young this lineup is. Just the starting outfield which includes Adam Jones (23), Nick Markakis (25) and Nolan Reimold (25) are putting up some eye popping stats.

Jones is batting .357 with 11 home runs, 36 RBI and 40 runs scored while playing very good defense in centerfield. Nick Markakis (.297 average, 7 home runs, 39 RBI) is continuing the solid season he had last year when he hit .306 with 20 home runs and 87 RBI. Newcomer Reimold has played in only 14 games in the major leagues and is showing some serious power, 5 of his 14 hits have been home runs. You can add the 30 year Luke Scott who is the designated hitter to the mix as well, in just 31 games this season Scott is batting .318 with 8 home runs and 22 RBI.

Also add into the mix 31 year old second baseman Brian Roberts who is batting .306 and leading the team in runs scored with 42, along with the 32 year old Aubrey Huff (.273 average, 8 home runs and 38 RBI) who plays first base, and this is an offense heavy lineup.

The batters box isn't the only place to find youth on this team, the starting pitchers are not long in the tooth themselves. Three of the starters are under the age of 25. David Hernandez (24), made his major league debut yesterday with 5 2/3 innings allowing 5 hits and only 1 run in the victory. 26 year old Jason Berken debuted on May 26th against Toronto and got the win after going 5 innings allowing 7 hits and 2 runs. And 23 year old Brad Bergesen debuted back in April and is 1-2 with a 5.49 ERA in 7 starts.

With all these young players, the Orioles will be pushing for the postseason in the not to distant future after not making the playoffs since 1997. It would be tough for them to make it this year in the very competitive American League East but they will certainly be a factor in the coming years if they can keep this team together.

Good luck to Matt Wieters, he's got a big job ahead of him, what with handling a very young pitching staff and getting himself acclimated to major league pitching.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.

Seattle fans have seen this before

According to USS Mariner, here was the type of pitches that Carlos Silva threw in his last two starts...

April 8th 23 fastballs, 61 sinkers.
April 14th 41 fastballs, 37 sinkers

That's two different types of pitches if you're counting. Although I'm not sure how you would classify the pitches that go careening into the protective screen at Safeco Field. Either way, the man is milking a 6.35 ERA and an 0-2 record after today's 8-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

After busting out some rather interesting software that charts pitches, the USS Mariner has come to this conclusion...

Carlos Silva’s sinker is indistinguishable from his fastball, if we grant that he even throws two pitches. He’s playing rock-paper-scissors with rock, rock, and rock.

If you're keeping score at home, that's bad news. But hey! At least the Mariners' bullpen has the same problem.

Now for your AL East fans out there reading Just South of North, which is Dylan Kitzan and that strange Austrian woman I met at the bar last night, the Red Sox are back to .500 after Jon Lester shook off a rough start to the season and looked like the Lester of old in a 2-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

Final line: Seven innings pitches, four hits and nine strikeouts.

For Red Sox fans, that's a very good sign that Lester is dealing again. And that the Yankees are giving up over 20 runs a game.

Epic Photo: Does he have a clump of dirt on his hand?

Even the Detroit Tigers and their sludge-ball throwing ways couldn't stop the Mariners, who won last night 6-3 to continue their hot start in the major leagues. If this continues, we're going to have to come up with some sort of tagline for the season. Here's what I was thinking:

"The Season of Over achievement"
"Trust us, we're not the 2008 Tampa Bay Devil Rays"
"Refuse to Lose... 100 games this year"
"The not really conceivable dream"
"The Amazing M's"
"The season that Griffey built... by batting .200"

Any suggestions?

Giant burger doesn't need a warning label

Ask anyone who knows me and they will be able to tell you that my all-time favorite food is a hamburger.

Onetime at 9 AM at IHOP I ordered a hamburger. That's how much I love them. I saw I could have a burger for breakfast (despite being in the International House Of Pancakes) I knew I had to have a burger.

Oh how I love them.

Well, the West Michigan Whitecaps have come up with my type of burger. The Whitecaps are an single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. And this burger is epic.

Here's what it is:

A 4-pound, $20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips — all on an 8-inch bun.

Oh man, the next Northern Rangers video has got to be me traveling to Michigan to eat that burger. (Yes, that is the real picture of it)

But the main problem with the burger isn't simply that it offers 4,800-calories, it's the health nuts that want a warning label slapped on it.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine sent a letter to the club saying that the club should put a warning label on the burger stating that eating it would increase the chances of cancer and heart disease.

No frikin' way! I never knew that eating a burger that contained FIVE patties, FIVE cheese slices, salsa, chili and corn chips was bad for me.

How dumb do they think people are? If I'm paying $20 for a burger, I want to eat it. I don't want to first read about how bad it is for me. That's part of the fun.

(Sung to the tune of Take me out to the ballgame)

Take me out to the ballgame....

Take me out with the crowd....

Buy me a giant hamburger....

I don't care if I have a heart attack.....

For it's squirt, squirt, squirt of the ketchup....

If I don't eat all of this burger it's a shame....

For it's 1, 2, 3 bites of goodness....

At the ol' ball game!