minnesota-twins
By C. Eric Lincoln
It’s autumn, and along with falling leaves around the Midwest, you can almost be sure that if there’s a pennant race the Minnesota Twins are in it. They are like a good hunting dog that smells the scent of wounded prey — Detroit Tigers slipping, Chicago White Sox stumbling out of sight. If it’s September, it is likely that the beloved Twinkies will be here. The secret to their annual success may well surprise you.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and Twins general manager Terry Ryan have been universally praised by their peers for the good work they have done with the ballclub since 2002. Their good work has started a renaissance period of three playoff years prior to last year after years of losing in the mid-to-late nineties. Successful people are also prone to making mistakes. The decision making of both men is part of the reason why this team has not had a good season so far. Managerial mistakes and personnel mistakes have just affected this team in losses.
The Minnesota Twins were handicapped as the favorites to win the World Series last year by baseball writers such as ESPN’s Jayson Stark and Newark Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano. There was a good reason for that. They had the pitching and they had young hitters that were ready to break out in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Mauer and Morneau were so good that they were pegged as the Midwest Version of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris by the Star-Tribune and the Pioneer Press. Twins fans had every reason to be optimistic with the pieces in place. Unfortunately, it did not work out as Mauer and Morneau went through a rough first full season. Twins offense was anemic all of last season as the pitchers were forced to throw shutouts to even have a chance to win. This year is a different story. The hitters have finally played to their potential which is the big reason why the Twins are playing very well these last few weeks.
The Minnesota Twins talked a good game in the off-season about how they are a sleeper in the division and how they would do well with no pressure on them. Twins fans and the national and local media did not have any expectations on them this season. As a result, the team had the mentality of them versus the experts and their own fans. It has not worked out for them as they are 27-33 heading to Saturday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles. The way they have played at this West Coast trip in which they went 3-6, it seems this team is far away from contending for a wild-card spot or the division let alone being a .500 team.
I am a Twins fan. There’s been a lot of talk over this four-way trade and what the Twins got out of it. Was it worth it? Should we be emotional over losing a player who was batting .238 so far this season? I think so. Some might argue that this makes me a “Mientkiewicz fan” and not a “Twins fan” or a fan of the organization. People can argue that all they want, but they’re wrong. Here’s why: