Losses seem to be a common theme for our Minnesota teams. The Twins seem to be content with winning one out of four from their division rivals and the Minnesota Gophers and Vikings have yet to win. I’m really looking forward to leaf peeping as a way to get away from the television set. Although I read that the height of the season is likely to be mid-October in Southeastern Minnesota. I hope the Gopher and Viking seasons, unlike the Twins, won’t be decided by then. I think not; both show promise. They do need their quarterbacks to play well. McNabb will be OK. If you remember, Brett Favre started out the same way until Coach Childress gave him his head during his very good 2009 season.
I read recently that Joe Mauer is leading the Twins in hitting and we all know what kind of season Mauer has had. I think that statistic epitomizes the Twins’ lousy year. If you don’t hit well, or pitch well, plus play terrible defense, you’re going to have a bad year. And you couldn’t ask for a better example than our Twins. If things continue as they are, the Twins will wind up with the worst record in the American League. I don’t think they can catch Houston for the worst record in the Majors, but they are trying.
The Twins are a good example of the quick-changing nature of Major League Baseball. A year ago this spring I was watching them stomp on the Baltimore Orioles. It was a beautiful night in Fort Myers. We were seated high up over first base in a 7,500-seat stadium. Not a bad seat in the house; surrounded by Minnesota fans. The lady next to me took a paper that my column appeared in. However, she didn’t normally read it and between innings I tried to encourage her to venture into new ground and look at it. She didn’t seem real positive, but I refused to bribe her with a hot dog. A man has his pride.
Gardenhire had decided to play his starting lineup with J.J. Hardy and Orlando Hudson middle infielders and Justin Morneau at first. Interestingly, Chris Parmalee relieved Morneau at first, booted a ground ball and we all thought, low minor leagues for him. Now of course he’s playing first base in the Majors and Morneau is sitting on the bench.
Baseball teams are short lived. None more so than the team I was watching that Florida night. The pitching staff included Jesse Crain, Brian Fuentes, Pat Neshak, Matt Guerrier and Jon Rauch. The catching staff had Jose Morales and Wilson Ramos. Orlando Hudson, J.J. Hardy and Nick Punto were among the infielders. Delmon Young was a starting outfielder. Designated hitter was Jim Thome. The team coming off a very successful 2010 has had a 40 percent turnover. They no longer have 10 of the 25 players they had on last year’s roster.
Looking at the lineup that night, one wonders what in the world happened and if our Twins will ever again put a starting lineup like that together again. You can’t help but question the front office over this year’s debacle. General manager Bill Smith must work miracles or Target Field will not be full and Stub Hub will be very busy next year.
Although Smith will shoulder the blame if our Twins do not perform well next year, the success of the team will depend more on the present players. Can our two MVPs come back and have good years? There are other problems, but successful seasons by the M and M boys can cover up a lot of flaws.
