It’s a pleasure to resume writing for the paper. We are in the process of downsizing our antique shop and my publishers were kind enough to give me a two-month hiatus. 

As usual, I didn’t get as much done as I had hoped, but the season is winding down at the State Park and more time can be devoted to the task of sorting and selling.

It’s amazing how fast the summer has gone, although it probably can’t end soon enough for our Minnesota Twins. They are having their second consecutive year of futility. 

In 2011, the string of injuries to the mainstays of the club hurt them along with some misguided actions from the front office. Injuries to Morneau, Mauer and others had the team out of contention soon after the All-Star game. The lack of a Major League shortstop didn’t help either.

General manager Bill Smith was fired, which was quite a step for our loyal-to-a-fault Twins organization. Previous GM Terry Ryan was brought in to right the ship. 

Ryan was able to fill the obvious holes with adequate replacements. The position players are now Major League competent, perhaps not a pennant-winning lineup, but competitive, particularly in the American League Central Division. But, I’m sure to Ryan and Gardenhire’s dismay, the starting pitching disappeared.

At the beginning of this season, after coming out of spring training, the starting staff was composed of Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn and promising Australian rookie Liam Hendricks. Now, it’s normal that a Major League starting staff will undergo change, maybe through injuries or just plain ineffectiveness. But the Twins went five-for-five. 

Baker and Pavano came up with injuries and Pavano was not that good when he did pitch, probably due to his injury. Blackburn was consistently bad and Hendricks was terrible before being sent down to Rochester.

Francisco Liriano was a study unto itself. I had a chance to interview Liriano in 2006. 

He was the best pitcher on a staff that included Cy Young winner Johan Santana. One of the questions I asked Liriano was, "What do you enjoy doing besides playing baseball?" He said, "Dominos" with a smile. 

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to again talk to Liriano. I asked him how his arm was? "Good" he said, with a very straight face. 

Then I asked him how his Domino game was? "Good" he said, with a very somber face. Now he had no reason to smile back at me, but I remember thinking, "This is not a happy camper." 

I’m sure the Twins were tempted to keep him, as he was about the only starter with dominating stuff, but I certainly understand their trading him. The Twins had worked with Liriano for six years and only in a couple of these years had he pitched well all season. 

 I think the team felt that someone else could pay a great deal of money and have the angst of a very inconsistent performer on their pitching staff.

Terry Ryan has a real conundrum, whether to try to fix the team short term or throw up his hands and rebuild. It must be tempting to tear down the team and build for the future. 

However, the Twins have a solid core of position players and if Ryan can greatly improve the starting pitching, they might contend. In any case, this should be an interesting off-season.