It seems every time we play in Minnesota against the Twins, we love playing long extra-inning games. Our first series there we played 13 innings ending in a loss, and this last series we played a nice 16-inning game which resulted in a 11-9 victory on Friday night.

People ask what's going through your head once you start to approach that four- or five-hour mark in the game and that 13-16 inning mark.

Your body isn't really tired as you see pitchers still come in throwing around the same velocity as before. Players still make plays, steal bases, and hit home runs to win those long games. Mentally, you are ready for it to end sooner than later though. 

Sometimes, though, you just get really hungry.

We have sunflower seeds, gum, and even protein bars for us at anytime throughout the game. I've eaten peanuts before and even candy bars, just because I wanted something else.  It made me think though:  If all of that is OK to eat, why wouldn't it be OK to run upstairs to the clubhouse and make a sandwich for the 14th inning? Of course that hasn't happened, but you do get very tempted to do so.

As the game goes later, your mind starts to think a little more about the length of the game when you are approaching your sixth, seventh and eighth at-bats. Those are days where you just hope you have at least one hit and hopefully a walk in those games. (Or you can do like Denard Span(notes) did and have five hits in that 16-inning game.)

I also began to think about what is going to happen when we run out of pitchers. Who would be the position player we would use in that situation? Everyone jokes on our team about how they can pitch, but no one has had to do it. I would like to get a chance to and almost did one game in high school. Brandon Inge(notes) would be a good candidate since he pitched in college and can make up pitches to get hitters out, but what if we had no other infielders left to replace him at third base, then what would happen?

It would be interesting to see, but hopefully we don't get to that point where we are playing that many innings where we will need to find out that answer.

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One a final note, I would also like to thank not only my peers in baseball, but all the fans who have shown support this year, which resulted in me being named to the All-Star team for the first time in my career this week. I am excited to participate in my first All-Star Game, but I am also humbled and surprised.

Of course, the game will be much more fun if my teammate Brandon Inge, who definitely deserves an All-Star slot, joined Justin Verlander(notes), Edwin Jackson(notes) and me on the team. You can vote for Brandon in the final vote by clicking here.

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Curtis Granderson plays center field for the Detroit Tigers and his blog will appear regularly on Yahoo! Sports' Big League Stew during the 2009 season. Make sure to check out and support his Grand Kids Foundation. 

Previous Posts: Q&A with the fans, Pt. 1 (June 29) The importance of education (June 19) • Breaking up a no-no (June 8) • Tip of the cap to Luke Scott(notes) (June 1) • Hanging with Hammer (May 22) • Sweet home, Chicago (May 14) • The catch in Cleveland (May 11) • Impressive ballpark amenities (April 29) • Handling A 10-Game Road Trip • (April 22) Cautious About Identity Theft (April 14) • Season's High Hopes (April 6)

Related: Curtis Granderson on BLS