Well, that was disappointing. It wasn't crushing, though. At least the Twins had the dignity to get dominated, rather than suffering heartbreaking late-inning losses. The home team also primed their fans for disappointment by losing a load of games at the end of the season, wiping out any momentum and fan excitement. Now it's time for fans to figure out what went wrong and then turn those quick solutions into hashtags. Let's see how deeply pointless we can get.
Some fans are blaming only The Magical Walrus for the pathetic postseason record. Others are saying that it's not his fault. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.
A manager has two basic jobs. The first is game management - drawing lineups, managing the bullpen and making tactical moves. These decisions don't matter much unless the game is close, and they're usually not tough to make if the team is good. The second isn't really measurable or noticeable, so the stat people don't talk about it - leading. Managing all the personalities and motivations of 25 players isn't easy, especially over the course of 162 games in six months.
Did Gardy make so many tactical mistakes that it cost the Twins the series? I don't think so. Did he not get his players to play? It's up for debate, but basically impossible to know. Yet I strongly doubt that he needs to tell these guys how to win. These guys have all been there before.
But if you want Gardenhire gone, then you should also cast away Jason Kubel and everyone else who has been sub-par in the playoffs. (nearly everyone)
If you wanted to really solve the Twins postseason failures, from an organizational perspective, you should look at what wins games in October that might be different from winning a division. (power bullpen, ace pitcher, power and speed.) Those are problems worth discussing. The managerial situation is not.
Indeed, it was pointless for me to write this, and pointless for you to read it. Because the bottom line is this: Ron Gardenhire isn't going anywhere.
4 comments:
I'm completely fine that bronxboi hasn't chimed in with a guest post yet. Letting us vent some steam perhaps?
you make some good points here mr haasertime. I thought Gardy did a fine job with the in game decisions, but I question how overwhelmed this team looks every post season. You can make the case, well the Yanks are better on paper and they're just a better team.
But like we talked about, there's nobody on this team that says, "if it's the bottom of the 9th with two outs and we need a run, I want the bat in my hands." Instead, these players see Rivera warm up and go "oh geez, here we go again."
87 Tigers were expected by everyone to roll the Twins but the opposite happened. Hrbek, Puckett, Bert, Gladden, etc. all had that killer instinct mentality that I do not see in any current Twin. Perhaps Morneau has that but until he plays in another playoff series we'll never know.
It's common that the best team on paper doesn't win the world series, chip chair and a chance. I personally blame BOTH players and Gardy, but like you said, there's no point in discussing this since he inked the extenstion. blah.
The fact that Gardenhire will not be fired is all you really need to know about the Minnesota Twins organization. In any other market around baseball he would have been released years ago. Getting to the playoffs is all the front office cares about in the heart of Mediocrity. However, this year the fans are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore. Remember Target Field was built by the fans.
What happens to a team that lets Pavano, Hardy, Hudson, Kubel, Fuentes, Crain, Guerrier, and Rauch go from the roster. The answer is simple you turn into the Cleveland Indians. Once target Field wears out it's welcome the fans will stop coming to the games. What a joke!!
Just a question. Does anyones opinion change if the Twins lose in 5? or 4?
Is it the fact that they got their butts handed to them by the yankees the issue or just that they couldn't make it out of the first round?
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