Reading Room: The Twins are coming

Back in early May, the White Sox had a chance to kick the Minnesota Twins while they were down. Instead, they lost both games at home, and they were no-hit by Francisco Liriano.

Now, the Sox travel to Target Field to play the resurgent Twins, who have won nine of their last 11. But that shouldn't scare the White Sox, because they still have a ton of things in their favor.

No. 1: They won't face Liriano, who almost threw a second no-hitter against the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

No. 2: Nor will they face their second-best pitcher, Scott Baker.

No. 3: Sox-killer Jason Kubel, Sox-thorn Denard Span and ex-Sox Jim Thome have joined Joe Mauer on the DL.

No. 4: Justin Morneau is battling a nagging wrist issue that is a big reason why he has just two hits in 27 June at-bats. It's unclear whether he'll be available for the opener.

Of course, this list doesn't matter. You can throw records out the window, as Juan Pierre says, because when these two teams meet, the Sox have a tendency to shrivel up. They're 11-27 against the Twins over the last two-plus years, and they aren't afraid to fumble any favors.

But back when the two teams met, the Twins had yet to call up Ben Revere. Even though he's hitting .272/.306/.284, he'll probably slap some singles, steal the bases, warn the British and force Hawk Harrelson to invoke the name of Carlos Gomez at least twice over the series. So I expect the White Sox will probably find a way to not lose one game out of three, then thank the Twins for the privilege of sharing the same ballfield. I keep waiting for them to prove me wrong.

• Williams believes Viciedo is ready to contribute - whitesox.com

It moved.

Between this article -- where both Williams and Ozzie Guillen say that Viciedo needs to play regularly whenever he's promoted -- and the growing discontent with Juan Pierre, it seems like we should think about girding our loins for a world where the Cuban Tank rolls between left field and DH.

• Ozzie Guillen likes kids in White Sox clubhouse - chicagotribune.com

With Father's Day approaching, Dave van Dyck delivers this worthwhile read regarding Guillen's open door policy for kids in the clubhouse, as well as the training facilities. Sometimes it seems like the White Sox require a marriage certificate and a child within six months of the first contract, and this might provide some background behind the organization's preference for stable (some might say boring) personalities.

I liked this part:

A week ago Sunday, after the Sox had just lost a disappointing game to the Tigers and lost pitcher Jake Peavy to an injury, Guillen carried 4-year-old Brody Dunn in to see his father, who had just struck out three times and was lustily booed.

"C'mon, let's get in the hot tub," Guillen said as they approached Dunn's locker. "And make sure you put your dad in there and drown (him)."

White Sox Claim Leyson Septimo - MLBTradeRumors.com

Tim Dierkes points out that the White Sox had fewer players on their 40-man roster than any other team, and they will use one of the vacant spaces on Septimo. He's a converted outfielder in the Arizona Diamondbacks' system, and Larry describes his stuff in the minor league fanpost thusly: "nice velocity for a lefty (95+). appears to generally have no idea where the ball is going."

Top five two-word anagrams for "Leyson Septimo" (without using the same word twice):

1. Sleepy Motions
2. Mostly Peonies
3. Yelps Emotions
4. Enemy Topsoils
5. Seemly Options
   

Needless to say, I'm already heavily invested in his success.