Everything that surrounds us seems to be balanced between positive and negative: Good and evil, dark and light, etc. I’ve written about the Yin and Yang of our lives before. One can go on and on about polar opposites.
Good and bad most often seem to be in balance. But not always, because there may come a day when one tips irrevocably. Life and death for example; for once you’re dead, you’re dead for a long time.
Sometimes, the good outweighs the bad and sometimes the opposite is true. A baseball team can win 10 in a row and it can also lose 10 in a row. It’s hard to explain, but it happens.
Our Minnesota Twins may be hovering between bad and good. They have been bad and seem to be climbing a slippery slope toward good. But suppose they slip and fell into the dark hole of defeat with all the bad things. This following fictitious dark-side account would certainly contribute to bad things happening to the team:
Joe Mauer will miss a number of games and his batting and catching abilities plummet. He is put on the disabled list because of bilateral thumb weakness.
Justin Morneau suffers from post-concussion problems and retires to become coach of hockey’s Vancouver Canucks.
Josh Willingham tries to carry on, but falls into a slump and is striking out every third at-bat. He becomes depressed, feels ill and takes a few days off to recover. He receives a get well card from Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel. Terry Ryan accuses Cuddyer and Kubel of being bad sports. A huge controversy arises and the Twins are in the midst of player chaos. Some players are despondent and the team gets stuck with the tag of losers.
Ben Revere experiences an unexpected growth spurt and loses foot speed. Revere then tries to become a pitcher, but lacks a really good fastball.
Trevor Plouff catches a case of viral pneumonia and after recovery, his home run blasts are ending up on the warning track. Plouff vows this bilateral arm weakness will be fine after extensive rehab.
Scott Diamond comes down with the Scott Baker syndrome and only pitches 15 more innings.
We have just traveled down a very extravagant dark side of the Twins good and bad, but in retaliation, here is a good side:
Mauer continues his climb for the batting title. He again is a fan favorite as he fights his way past minor injuries to lead the Twins to a Central Division title.
Morneau opens his eyes one morning and all concussion worries have vanished. He is the Morneau of old as he supplies much needed left-handed power down the stretch drive.
Ryan Doumit is voted "Newcomer of the Year" and supplies a steady fielding and hitting presence.
Denard Span and Revere have career years and both wind up with above-.300 batting averages. The Twins appear to be set for the next 10 years with those two in the outfield.
Willingham becomes the right-handed slugger the Twins have long sought.
Francisco Liriano and Diamond are remindful of Johan Santana and Brad Radke.
Glen Perkins and Jared Burton are the first successful tandem closers in the Central Division and back up the starters with great success.
The Chinese looked at Yin and Yang not as opposites, but rather as complimentary. Perhaps the Twins can put together the good and bad and have a successful season.
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This column will not appear during the remainder of July and hopefully when I come back, the Twins will be in the thick of the Central Division race.
