Twins

[dutchboy]

Another home loss, the freefall continues.
6-2 Angels.

Festa not good, bats not good. Athletic had a story by Dan Hays that Correa is feeling better and may return. In another week it won't matter.   

[LPS]

So the Twins today you have to do Roku?

[Gunner55]

No, PBTV has 'em on BSNOR @ 6:30. With the NFL & college football going, along with the way they messed up Ober's great start on Saturday , I haven't watched much Twins baseball. Been channel surfing during commercials a little but that's about it. With Lopez going tonight I might tune back in.

[LPS]

I will tune in then.  I read whilst I watch the game till something interesting happens.

[Steve-o]

This year's Baldelli-led edition of the Twins is a far cry from Paul Molitor's "No retreat, no surrender" season back in 2017.

Yes, I know Baldelli has a better winning percentage than Molitor, Guardenhire, and Kelly.  Heck, you have to go back to Billy Martin to find a manager who won at a higher clip.

[LPS]

That surprises me. 

[dutchboy]

Game 7, you rather have Rocco or Kelly?

[Steve-o]

Are you dealing with old school, hard scrabble players or new age, you-better-not-dis-me players?

Either way...  Kelly.  Love 'em or hate 'em, Rocco is qualified to be a major league manager.  Still, I just think Tom stacks up better.

[Gunner55]

Margot was taken off the IL yday, but didn't play. Buxton is scheduled to come off it tomorrow. They don't play today & the Reds come to town on Friday.

[Gunner55]

Ober @ 7 today.

[dutchboy]

Buxton homers, Twins trail 7-1 at home. Another night they can't hit.

[Leech~~]

I just seem to have a hard time watching them in their nondiscripted uniforms that doesn't say Twins at least somewhere on it?
I keep thinking is this the same woke designer that did the state flag? 🤪

[Gunner55]

Correa to be activated before today's game. Be nice to see 'em get some runs early, so SWR has a little room for error. It's a 6:00 game today.

[Steve-o]

The Twins aren't out of the wild card race, but they are rapidly running out of runway to get themselves fired up.

[dutchboy]

10-1 Reds top of 5. They are beating the Twins like a Pinata. Gigantic inning for the Reds, Rocco couldn't find a button to push.

[Bobberineyes]

So who's gonna take the fall??

[dutchboy]

So who's gonna take the fall??

Wellllllll..............it won't be the owners. Won't be Falvey, President of Baseball Ops, won't be Lavine the GM, won't be Rocco, so yep it might be Maki the pitching coach. Or more likely they blame the injuries and how young the kids are. Rule #1 in Twinsville, never accept responsibility always pass the buck.

[Leech~~]

They are beating the Twins like a Pinata.

LOL, Love this!  And oh yeah it's MN not the twins!      

[Gunner55]

Provus asked Morneau before the game had even started that if he'd told him before the season that Buxton, Correa, & Lewis would only play in 18 games together with 2 weeks left but the Twins would still have a chance to make the playoffs, would he have taken that. Morneau didn't even hesitate & said absolutely. 

[dutchboy]

Provus asked Morneau before the game had even started that if he'd told him before the season that Buxton, Correa, & Lewis would only play in 18 games together with 2 weeks left but the Twins would still have a chance to make the playoffs, would he have taken that. Morneau didn't even hesitate & said absolutely.

Yes but that was then, this is now. They are gagging away what once seemed like a sure play-off spot. Granted they sucked in the beginning and are sucking at the end of the season but they still at one time were a near lock. Cleveland has only been .500 since the all-star break also so there was an opportunity to lock things down even playing just .500 baseball. The most discouraging thing is they have sucked at home when it counted the most.

BTW, had they been asked at the beginning of the season if they felt Buxton would make it all season they would have said no. If Correa would have made it all season they would have said maybe.

Some will say the Pohlads brought this on themselves by not spending. I think the Twins brought it upon themselves by adopting the all or nothing hitting approach. You still need people on base to score in front of a homerun if you expect to win. As Blylevan use to say about the season he gave up over 50 homeruns...."most were solo shots and those didn't hurt me."

[Steve-o]

Similar to Denny Green's famous quote:  The Twins ARE who we thought they ARE.

How many times have you heard the sports cliche, "a team felt good just to make the playoffs."  That's Jim Pohlad's Twins.  Keep people churning thru the turnstiles.  "If we don't win it's a shame..."

And like Nike says:  Winning isn't for everyone. 

[dutchboy]

In the 30 years since they went to the currant division members the Twins have the most titles (11) other than Cleveland (15). That leaves Chicago, Detroit & KC for the remaining years.

Clearly the Twins compete more than they are also rans.

[Steve-o]

Tell me when the AL Central has ever been considered a strong division.  Going back 30 years...

Cleveland won the AL Championship 3 times.
Detroit won the AL Championship twice.
Kansas City won the AL Championship once and came back to win the World Series the following year.
The White Sox won the World Series once.
The Twins...  (* chirp *)(* chirp *)(* chirp *)  Before last season they had an 18 game losing streak in the post season - the longest playoff losing streak in professional sports history.  Over the 30 year span they were 9-30 with only two series wins out of 12 series' played.

I'll concede the point that the Twins are often relevant in the division race with other mediocre teams.  And I've enjoyed watching them in all of their various runs at the playoffs.  But that is what I find so frustrating as a fan...  The Pohlads do not have the guts or the stomach or whatever it takes to build a roster that is positioned to win in the post season. 

They lucked into a small bit of success in 2023, but instead of building on it, the Pohlads did what the Twins always do, and they cut to the bottom line.  Winning isn't for everyone.

They're not the only team who does this.  It isn't against the law.  Its more fun to be in a division race than not.  But the past 30 years have shown that this is where the Pohlads place the bar for success, and they show little or no interest in raising it.

Thank goodness they aren't the ...
Expos/Nationals, who had a 30 year playoff drought between 1981 and 2012, or the
Royals, who had a 28 year drought between 1985 and 2014, or the
Brewers (25 seasons), Blue Jays (21 seasons), Pirates (20 seasons), Mariners (20 seasons), Tigers (18 seasons), Marlins (16 seasons), or the Angels with a 15 year playoff drought between 1986 and 2002.

And THIS is part of what makes baseball so fun.  There are all sorts of stats and numbers to help you love the thing you love about the game and love the things you hate about the game.   

[Bobberineyes]

It could be worse Steve-o,  between the Vikes and MN Northstars/ Wild a big fat 0 on league champions, and both have been around since the 60's, that's not good.

[Steve-o]

All the MORE reason to be frustrated with the Twins.    

The Vikings did get to the NFC championship game several times, and had heartbreaking losses.   
The Wild have been mired in mediocrity - never losing enough games to get a high-enough draft choice in a year when a bona fide NHL franchise-player was available.* 
The North Stars were on the verge of a Stanley Cup when Norm (Sucks) Greene moved the team to Dallas.  Mike Modano was that franchise, future Hall of Fame draft pick for the North Stars, but he won the cup for Dallas instead.   
The Timberwolves are cursed.   

And these are all salary cap leagues.
But the Twins...  Yes, the Twins HAVE been good but are unwilling to try to be great.   


*The Wild do get credit for going "all in" on Parise and Suter - with the hopes that several of their good, young players would become GREAT players - but none of them reached their full potential with the Wild.  Everyone knew 10-year contracts were too long, but those last years would be forgiven by the fans if the team won The Cup.  And of course none of that panned out and the Wild have been hamstrung by those contract buyouts the past 3 (and now 4) seasons.
 

[dutchboy]

Twins jump the Indians and are up 3-0 after 3. Lopez on the mound so things are looking up if Rocco doesn't over think things again.

[LPS]

 

[dutchboy]

Jax escapes a bases loaded 1 out jam in the bottom of the 8th. Twins lead 3-2 in this must win game.

Jax gives up 2 run bomb in the bottom of the 8th. Indians lead 4-3.   

[dutchboy]

There goes any chance of the Twins catching the Indians. Twins lose 4-3 in a game the led in until the 8th inning.

On a side note, the season is nearly over and Attebury is still terrible. Just doesn't know when to shut up.

[Gunner55]

  The HR pitch was a good pitch, a FB up & in, just not good enough. I've got to believe Jax wanted it up a touch more & in another couple inches. It was a good enough pitch that he had to be sitting on it & he didn't miss it, either.