A Canadian View Point On the Minnesota Twins

The follwing is a draft of a Canadian viewpoint on the suprisingly succesful Minnesota Twins. Now, as the biggest Twins fan this side of the Mason-Dixon line I do not condone most of what is said in this article but it is interesting to see what outsiders think about our hometown-9. I played on a college baseball team made up of 50%I Canadians so I am used to this, but I think this viewpoint is important for us as die-hard Twins fans to read. The writer is a friend of mine, so any nasty comments can be directed at me. I just thought this would be an interesting change from our normal 'I love the Twins' post.


By AlbertaBound

I understand the plight of Minnesotans who, whether they be die-hard or come-lately, feel that the Twins’ play this year should be a far more important keynote on ESPN. It’s certainly true that their surprising success this year rarely garners more than a footnote following the nightly baseball highlights, and I, for one, would have laughed in the face of anyone who thought the Twins would win the division (come to think of it, I did a number of times). It makes me nauseous to say it, but their overachieving play makes it difficult for even an admitted hater to denigrate what they’ve done. With that said, I will now do my best.

The number one reason, of course, that Minnesota receives little to no national attention is simply geography. Small market teams rarely make a big splash and are generally treated as novelties until they prove otherwise in the postseason, and let’s face it – the most recent Twins’ playoff memory the average baseball fan has in mind is Torii Hunter bellyflopping. I could dedicate an entire article to the euphoria I experienced as the ball landed ten feet away and skittered to the wall, effectively crushing the hopes and dreams of an entire state, but that’s for another time and place.

Simply put, it doesn’t matter to anybody in the American League if the Twins run the table the rest of the year, because they don’t have a team built for playoff success. Outside of Francisco Liriano, who may or may not be proverbially “back,” they have nobody that can square off with the Josh Becketts and the John Lackeys of the American League in a Game 7 situation. Nor do they have the staff that can eat up an established veteran lineup dotted with power hitters for an entire series. Outside of Joe Nathan, their bullpen might as well be a cut right out of “Major League” (“This guy here is dead”), and as if anyone wants Jesse Crain or Matt Guerrier squaring off with guys like Mark Teixeira in the seventh inning of a 3-2 game with two on. When he fits in time to pitch between facial spasms, Nathan’s a lights-out closer, but getting him the ball with the lead will be a huge problem come the postseason. Really, the only thing I’d love to see more than the Twins actually miss the playoffs is to see Brian Bass try to navigate his way through a couple of innings against the Angels.

Meanwhile, the crux of every argument surrounding the Twins this year has been how well they’ve been able to play with what they have (and don’t get me wrong, being in a division with two Triple A teams certainly does wonders), and I’ll give credit where it’s due there. On August 3, they beat the Indians with a lineup that featured Denard Span, Jason Kubel, Mike Lamb, Brian Buscher, Brendan Harris, and Carlos Gomez (with Mike Redmond batting three hole. That’s right. Mike Redmond. No, seriously.). Impressive, no doubt, but having even two of those guys in my playoff lineup would give me nightmares if I was Ron Gardenhire. Even putting aside the almost mind-numbing lack of experience, none of those guys are going to hit the ball out of the park consistently, which I’ve heard is sort of important when it comes to winning in the playoffs. After Justin Morneau, they have no established power (Kubel absolutely does not count), and their third leading home run hitter is a guy who was performing so poorly he was released in Craig Monroe, with eight.

And, as if not having the hitting or pitching to go deep into the playoffs wasn’t enough, here’s the coup de gras: The Minnesota Twins are a combined 14-21 against the Red Sox, White Sox, Angels, Yankees, and Rays this year (you know, the kinds of teams they’ll have to beat if they make the playoffs). They’ve also racked up a whopping 42% of their wins against the Indians, Tigers, and Royals (24-12 overall, and are currently fourteen games over .500 – you do the math), and are above .500 against just those three teams in the American League. Again, that’s kind of a big deal.

And so will begin the predictable counterpoints from Twins fans still clinging on to the delusion that they can win in the playoffs despite all common sense screaming otherwise. “They’ve won all year with this ball club, haven’t they?” they will invariably demand. And yes, they do deserve recognition for being able to keep their heads afloat against the rest of the AL while they beat up on Kansas City, Cleveland, and Detroit enough to be right in the running for the division, but when they start playing real teams, with real playoff experience, real pitching, and real power hitters, the conclusion is a foregone one.