Fish Fear Me

That's A Wrap

The Yankees made it official tonight with a 4-1 win over the Twins, but the series winner was really Friday night. I'll probably be mulling over that game until spring training next year. Where I end up on that and what moves the team makes this winter will determine just how much I decide to emotionally invest in the Twins next year.

I just watched a TV clip where Joe Nathan talked about how the Twins can hold their heads high. Way to embrace your inner mediocrity, Joe. Yes, it was an amazing game on Tuesday, but if the Twins really do believe that their performance in the ALDS is something to be proud about then we might as well never set our sights higher than AL Central champs. Some things have got to change.

I'll leave players for another post, but I think the most obvious change has to be with Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson. Over the winter they need to get with management and figure out which players they can keep motivated for, you know, the entire season, and which players are either going to stop making stupid mistakes over and over or get jettisoned.

Case in point: Nick Punto tonight. The third head of the Twins' base running Cerberus appeared when Punto blew past the stop sign from the third base coach and got picked off at third. It's the Twins version of Godwin's law: As a week of baseball progresses, the probability of Casilla, Gomez, and Punto all making some kind of boneheaded base running mistake approaches one.

That's not to let the pitchers off the hook. I like Rick Anderson, but this year his young rotation actually went backwards for the most part and the season ends with me baffled as to why he seems to have little control over them. A really Darwinian spring training shakeout should be in the works for all of the Twins pitchers, and Anderson and Gardenhire need to make that clear.

Bummer

I'm not even sure where to start about last night's game. The Twins have had their share of tough losses in New York, but last night was the most bitter ever I think. I haven't been this disappointed and angry about a sporting event in a long, long, time. The Twins had a chance to come home for two games tied with the Yankees at 1-1, with the mighty Yankees at least back on their heels a little bit. They blew it, with an assist by Major League Baseball.

I guess we can start with the fourth inning and Carlos Gomez getting caught at second base, ending the inning just before Delmon Young could cross the plate for a run. A run that just maybe would have provided the margin of victory in the ninth. Maybe. Now any player can slip and fall, but Gomez should never have put himself in that position. Why make that turn in the first place? Did he think he was going to make it to third? The last line I wrote in yesterday's post was, "No stupid base running mistakes." There's aggressive base running and then there is stupid base running. Well that was stupid, and it is no surprise to Twins fans that it was Gomez who brain-farted at a critical moment. Again.

The Twins had seventeen left on base last night. Seventeen. Credit three of those to Gomez in the fourth. Umpire Phil Cuzzi can probably be credited with one more in the 11th on what just may be the worst call I've ever seen in a playoff game. The rest are wholly owned by the Twins themselves. I'm not mad about that, just disappointed. And the Yankees deserve credit for playing cool and making pitches and plays when they needed to. The Twins had multiple opportunities to crack the game open though, and couldn't rise to the occasion. That was disappointing.

The crushing blow of course, was Joe Nathan giving up that tying home run in the ninth. It was disappointing, but that's baseball. The man had 47 saves for the Twins this season and he doesn't deserve some of the nasty things that I heard last night. We were counting on him and he didn't come through this time. It just is what it is.

More depressing than even this particular loss are my feelings about the state of the league. Last night's game left me wondering if small market teams can ever really compete against the likes of the Yankees or the Angels. Oh, the small market teams can develop some talent and cobble together teams that are competitive once in a while. But eventually the bigger payroll teams are going to vulture up the Torii Hunters and the Johan Santana's and teams like the Twins end up being major league farm clubs for the big boys. Sure, we can have our Mauers and Morneaus for awhile, but we can't assemble a first-rate supporting cast like the Yankees. Can you imagine the Yankees' lineup leaving seventeen stranded last night? I can't.

It's enough to make one wonder if it's all just designed to play fans like me as suckers and keep us just interested enough to keep the carnival going. Then, when the post-season comes, with a pat on the head we are sent on our way. In the end, the big payroll teams are just too talented and too deep to beat no matter how scrappy you play them.

And what's up with the quality of umpires? I'm not going to lay last night on them, but how can the league get to the post-season and have such a shitty crew? Both teams were baffled by Chuck Meriwether's strike zone last night and I think the players were right. The man was a joke behind home plate. I also read this morning that Phil Cuzzi felt bad after the game. Well, if Major League Baseball wanted to show they were serious then Mr. Cuzzi would be feeling bad from his sofa this morning. He doesn't deserve to be umpiring post-season games. Again, I'm not saying he cost the Twins the game. Who knows what would have happened if he hadn't blown that call? But that was little league. It's not Major League baseball if you have little league umpires. It's just a cruel joke.

Nothing To Lose

So what about the Yankees? Well, clearly they are the favorites. The Twins went 0-7 to them this year, though only one was a blowout. The rest were either one(4) or two(2) run affairs.  Their roster is better and deeper than the Twins roster and they have home field advantage. The NY Post breaks down the teams by position and there's nothing there that I would argue about. They are an impressive team.

Pretty much nobody is giving the Twins a chance against the Yankees and I think that's understandable. I think the Twins can give the Yankees a run for their money though, if they can step it up a notch or two in a couple of areas.

Clearly the pitchers have to avoid momentary lapses of reason like Scott Baker's third inning last night. The Yankees are going to get their home runs anyway, but they are absolutely going to murder the Twins if their pitchers can't maintain a little more discipline and make every pitch count. It's something that has plagued the Twins all year. Last year too as a matter of fact. If they can't bring it up a notch against the Yankees then there will be some long games of watching their mistakes sail into the outfield stands. The Yankees are just too good for it to be otherwise.

They also need to be patient when they go to the plate. Mauer, Cuddyer, Kubel, and Young can all hit with power, but they need to remember the small ball that got them here. Make the Yankees throw strikes and see if they can get those pitch counts up. The one area where the Yankees may be vulnerable I think is starting pitching. They have a great bullpen, but even a great bullpen can get tired over a series.

Well, the game starts shortly. We'll see if the Twins have anything left in the tank after the last month, and particularly last night's game. As my friend Rob pointed out, the pressure is all on the Yankees tonight. The Twins are on the bottom of everybody's expectations list and so they have nothing to lose in this series and everything to gain. They are not the same team that lost those seven games back in May and July and for sure they are playing with a hell of a lot of spirit. That doesn't mean that they are better than the Yankees, just perhaps dangerous. That's why they actually play the games.

Go Twins!

And We'll See You In New York...Tomorrow Night!

Holy cow, what a game. My hat goes off to the Detroit Tigers. I'm sure they will get a lot of heat about losing a 3-game lead with 4 to play, but they rose up tonight and played tough.

What's next? Well, I'm back home and watching the Twins celebrate in the clubhouse on TV and can't help but wonder. This year I expected the Twins of 1991 that won 97 games and eventually the World Series. I was very frustrated when it became obvious that they weren't going to be that team. Somehow over the last month they have become the scrappers that remind me of the 1987 World Champion Twins. The odds are they will get pummeled by the Yankees, but you never know.

Did they leave it all on the carpet of the Metrodome tonight? Or does this give them even more confidence and a nothing to lose insurgent attitude against the Yankees? Is Joe Mauer our version of Luke Skywalker and Michael Cuddyer our Han Solo? Has Dave had a beer too far?

Could be. What the heck, let's see where it goes.

The fork has been dusted off and put back in the drawer.

It's Deja Vu All Over Again

Well, it's been an interesting run to finish off the baseball season. For the second year in a row the Twins finish the normal 162 game schedule tied for first in the AL Central after they finished sweeping KC today 13-4 and Detroit beat Chicago 5-3. As far as I can tell, that is a first. I'm not saying it's a good thing, just notable good old fashioned baseball trivia.

The Twins will face off against Detroit on Tuesday at the Metrodome. It will not be a friendly environment for the Tigers as the fans will have the place rocking, but I expect them to put up one hell of a fight. No prediction on the outcome here.

Some things to note:

• The Twins have gone 16-4 since September 13th. 
• The Twins are 45-27 in division play this year. Detroit is second in the AL Central at 39-33.
• The deja vu thing happened throughout the game today. Jason Kubel had two three-run homers, Delmon Young had two solo shots, and Orlando Cabrera twice doubled in Denard Span from first.

When the Twins went three games down with only four left to play I was ready to stick a fork in them. That they have finished the season tied for first is something of a minor miracle I think. Can they pull off one more win? We'll find out.

One

The Twins and the Tigers keep making it interesting, I'll say that. The Twins won last night and the Tigers lost, so big games this afternoon for the Twins and tonight for the Tigers as Detroit tries to hang on with their one game lead. A Twins win this afternoon will put huge pressure on the Tigers, but my boys have a tough challenge facing Cy Young candidate Zack Greinke. They lost to KC and Greinke last Sunday by a score of 4-1.

I have no prediction for this afternoon other than the Metrodome will be rocking. If you didn't know, next year the Twins move to a new stadium and return to outdoor baseball. So I will say that it would be really nice to have the final regular season MLB game there tomorrow be one that means something(Unless the two teams tie. Then Detroit will come to town on Tuesday for the second game 163 in row for the Twins). Even better would be a few playoff games.

One more Twins note: Delmon Young was deliberately hit by a pitch on Thursday in Detroit. He was on the ground in pain for a few moments and then got up and yelled at the dugout. The only thing was, it was his own teammate he was yelling at and not the Tigers. Twins pitcher Jose Mijares had thrown behind a Tigers batter the inning before and everybody knew it was coming. Not one Twins player bitched about it, including Young, because in the unwritten code of baseball, they know that that's what you do in that situation. But I don't remember ever seeing a player or team accept getting plunked so completely, and get mad at its own pitcher. Remarkable.

Oh, and Joe Mauer...MVP.

Now Where Did I Put That?

Has anyone seen my fork?

Update: The Twins won 8-3 this afternoon. We'll see if the White Sox can play spoiler and the Twins can sweep KC. But Detroit's magic number is two I believe, which seems pretty achievable to me out of the six total games. As Rob says in the comments, "Die Another Day."

Sweep

The Twins are headed to Kansas City today after sweeping the White Sox in Chicago. Detroit has one more in Cleveland tonight after stomping the Indians last night, so the odds are that they will have a 3-game lead going into the weekend. Detroit heads to Chicago and then comes home to host the Twins for 4 games before finishing with Chicago again at home. The Twins will finish the season at home against KC.

Those last two in Chicago weren't pretty from a pitching perspective, but they were fun to watch and the Twins got the job done. They are scrapping now and somebody different stepped up in both of those games to get the job done. Last night it was Nick Punto.

It's fun to watch, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Making up 3 games is possible, especially since they are playing 4 more against Detroit. They need to get past KC first though, and hope Chicago can play spoiler against the Tigers. And even if they do manage to win the division, we need to brace for a quick exit in the playoffs.

If I understand the situation correctly, if the Twins manage to win the division they will end up playing the Evil Empire because the Red Sox will be the wild-card team and they are in the same division. Talk about a David vs. Goliath situation. I love my Twins, but getting past New York would be a tall order, to understate that situation if it comes to that. On the other hand, you never know. If they did manage to get into the post-season and then actually beat the Yankees, that would be delicious. But enough of that. They have to get there first.

Sporting News

Friends, Minnesotans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury the Twins, not to praise them;
The evil that starting rotations do early in the season lives after them,
The good is oft interred with old pennant hopes,
So let it be with the Twins...

Sorry. When the Twins couldn't complete the sweep of Detroit yesterday, admittedly a very difficult task, instead of hitting the road one game behind the Tigers they are three games back today. They have three in Chicago, then three at KC, then four in Detroit, before ending the season back home with three against KC again. Now, it's possible that they will pick back up on their winning streak, they had won six in a row to get back into the hunt, and I hope they do. I'd like to see one more AL Central pennant to bring to the new ballpark next year. If they pull that off it will truly be an accomplishment based on what they have done so far this season. Which is why I temper my expectations.

On the plus side, the Twins are the best in the division as far as intra-division play at 35-24. Countering that is their record on the road, a dismal 31-40. And while the six-game winning streak was fun, before yesterday's loss it merely brought them to 10-7 for the month of September. That is hardly an inspiring record.

Go for it boys, I'll be rooting for you. I really don't think you have a prayer, but hey, prove me wrong.

The Vikes started slow again yesterday and let me indulge in bitching about my Vikes pet peeve, an offense that does several three and out series in a row and leaves the defense tired and scrambling. Detroit couldn't take advantage enough of that though, and when the Vikings offense finally got their act together Detroit was toast.

This is a good Vikings team. I'm a little concerned about rookie right tackle Phil Loadholt, but some patience is in order. All accounts that I've read say that he is working hard at all aspects of the game and so maybe he just needs some time to grow into the job. The dude is a monster at 6-8, 343 lbs. officially. If, when, he gets adjusted to the NFL, he's going to be a force.

On the FFL front, I cruised to victory this weekend. I think I was up like 25-0 yesterday by the time most of the early games had finished the first quarter. All of my starters scored with the exception of Brandon Marshall and it looks like I will have the high score for the week. Not that I think I have the greatest team in the world, but it's a better start than last year.

Swept Away

Well, crap. I wonder if, when the Twins arrive at Yankee Stadium, George Steinbrenner greets them with "Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL baseball stadium."

Sunday featured a scoreless pitching duel between Kevin Slowey and A.J. Burnett. The Twins scored two off Burnett in the top of the seventh, but the Yankees scored two off Slowey in the bottom of the inning.

When Damon sent Crain's fastball into the second deck in right field, the Yankees improved to 22-3 in regular-season home games against Gardenhire's Twins.

Yeah, um, make that 23-3.

After three consecutive walk-off defeats, the Twins got their misery out of the way early Monday night, when Glen Perkins turned a two-run, first-inning lead into a four-run deficit and got yanked after recording only two outs.

The Twins didn't fold, putting the potential tying run on base in the ninth inning, but in the end, it was just another loss at Yankee Stadium.

Ouch. I know, it's not the stadium, but the players who beat the Twins. They came up with the clutch hits when they needed them and the Twins didn't. The Twins stranded 46 base runners to the Yankees' 31 over the four game series. That's not to say that the Twins can't compete with the likes of the Yankees, they most certainly did. Those were some exciting games to watch. There's something off with the Twins right now though. They are making the types of mistakes that elite teams just don't make in close games. Stuff like making stupid base running mistakes, rookie at-bats, and then this gem that I just read tonight explaining starter Glen Perkins getting shelled and lasting just 2/3 of an inning this evening:

Glen Perkins had a two-run lead and couldn't escape the first inning Monday night. He recorded only two outs and gave up six runs before deciding he should tell the team he had an elbow issue.

So after their 7-6 loss, which gave the Yankees a four-game sweep, the Twins placed Perkins on the 15-day disabled list because of left elbow inflammation.

Just when it seemed the Twins' first visit to the new Yankee Stadium couldn't get any worse, they lost a pitcher who posted a 1.50 ERA in his first three starts.

Perkins, 26, will undergo a magnetic resonance imaging exam today in Minnesota.

"Right now it's precautionary," Perkins said. "It kind of just stiffened up on me a little bit, and I wasn't able to finish my pitches how I wanted to. I looked at the video, and there wasn't the movement and the extension of my pitches, and I think it was time that I told them how it felt."

Really? YA THINK? Maybe the time to tell them that was, I don't know, BEFORE YOU GAVE UP SIX FREAKIN" RUNS, Glen. But maybe that's just me.

Something is very wrong with that. I like pitching coach Rick Anderson a lot, but how did he allow that to happen? Either Perkins was not being honest with him, a sign of dysfunction on one or both parts, or Anderson was aware there was a possible issue and was not prepared to deal with it. That's not what contending teams do. At least not to the extent that the opponents are spotted six runs.

Every game counts, the 1-run loss to Chicago last year in game 163 should have hammered that home. Right now this team is not professional enough on a consistent basis to be a contender, and the sad thing is they should be.