"It Ain't Done Yet!!!"
That's the pronouncement from the Minnesota Twins' unofficial captain, Torii Hunter. It's also the truth. The Twins celebrated after clinching a playoff spot tonight, beating the Kansas City Royals 8-1 behind Boof Bonser's stellar pitching, Torii Hunter's 2-run homerun, double 2 for 4 night, the bullpen's stellar performance to seal the victory, Joe Mauer's 2-for-3 night, extending his lead in the AL batting race to 9 points and Justin Morneau's 3-run homer.
Torii's homer was his 30th of the season, giving the Twins a pair of hitters with 30 homers for the first time since 1987 when Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky and Gary Gaetti each hit thirty. Just as an observation, that 1987 team wasn't just known for having some guys hitting 30 homers. They hoisted the World Series trophy that year on October 25.
Justin Morneau, who I believe is the AL MVP, had another strong game, going 2-for-4, which raised Justin's batting average to .324. Last weekend, David Ortiz, in making his case for why he should be the MVP, said that "Jeter's got the batting average but I've hit the homeruns", hinting that it was a race between he and Jeter. With all due respect to both players, Justin's hit for power, in the clutch, for average and he's near the top of the league in game-winning RBI's while having his best year defensively.
Those are but a few of the great story lines from this year's Twins team. Frankly, it's a miracle that they were even playing meaningful games the last week of the season when you consider what they've had to overcome. The leader of their pitching staff, Brad Radke hasn't pitched in about a month while healing from a torn labrum and a cracked shoulder socket in his pitching arm. Rookie phenom Francisco Liriano went out with shoulder and elbow problems in August after having a phenomenal first half of the season. Because these are the Twins, not the Yankees, their slots in the rotation were filled with farmhands, in this instance by Boof Bonser and Matt Garza. Bonser's been lights out his last 4 starts while Garza has been steadily, and rapidly, improving.
That's before you consider how dramatically the team improved defensively when they installed Jason Bartlett at shortstop and Nick Punto at third. On the last Twins road trip of the season, Bartlett took away 20 hits in 10 games from opposing hitters. Nick Punto has the most incredible hand-eye coordination of any third baseman I've seen since Brooks Robinson. He's also got the best range in the AL while showing off his shortstop arm.
What Twins story would be complete without saying something about the Piranhas? Jason Tyner, Jason Bartlett, Luis Castillo and Nick Punto have created a ton of runs for this team, always taking the extra base, always keeping pressure on the defense, hitting balls into the gap and beating out infield hits.
For that matter, the Twins story just wouldn't be complete without mentioning the breakout seasons that Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau had in the middle of the lineup and that Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto had at opposite ends of the batting order, setting the table for Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau and Torii.
Can too much be said for the jobs that Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson did this season? Gardy's Grinders kept grinding even when others, myself included, had written them off. When the Twins went on their 18 of 19 run, people kept saying that it was too much to expect them to get back into the playoff race. When the Twins gained a paltry game and a half on Detroit during that hot streak, the conventional wisdom said that our predictions were confirmed. Thank God we were wrong. Badly wrong.
Meanwhile, Rick Anderson did a masterful job of getting the most out of a pitching staff that was under constant duress due to the injuries.
Despite it all, the Twins have kept winning, albeit at times clumsily. Do they have a shot at winning a playoff series? Absolutely. The Twins went 25-10 on the road after the All Star break, losing only the series in Yankees Stadium. They're 68-30 overall since June 8, the date of their rebirth. Since June 8, they're leading the majors in hitting and pitching, too. Factor in Bonser's pitching with the confidence of a 10 year veteran, Cy Young award winner Johan Santana anchoring the rotation, baseball's deepest bullpen anchored by the healthiest great closer and a stable full of power arms and the tightest defense in baseball and I think they've got a definite shot at winning their last game of the season.
Another thing that should get noticed is the Twins chance to win the batting title (Joe Mauer), the AL MVP (Justin), the AL Cy Young Award (Johan), Manager of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year (Torii for coming back from last season's season-ending broken ankle in Boston) and Executive of the Year Terry Ryan in the same season.
It's already been an incredible ride but I've got to make a call, a la Bert Blyleven, that the Twins will win it all this season. We've had one celebration but we're hungry for 4 more.
Posted Tuesday, September 26, 2006 12:50 AM
August 2006 Posts
No comments.
Torii's homer was his 30th of the season, giving the Twins a pair of hitters with 30 homers for the first time since 1987 when Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky and Gary Gaetti each hit thirty. Just as an observation, that 1987 team wasn't just known for having some guys hitting 30 homers. They hoisted the World Series trophy that year on October 25.
Justin Morneau, who I believe is the AL MVP, had another strong game, going 2-for-4, which raised Justin's batting average to .324. Last weekend, David Ortiz, in making his case for why he should be the MVP, said that "Jeter's got the batting average but I've hit the homeruns", hinting that it was a race between he and Jeter. With all due respect to both players, Justin's hit for power, in the clutch, for average and he's near the top of the league in game-winning RBI's while having his best year defensively.
Those are but a few of the great story lines from this year's Twins team. Frankly, it's a miracle that they were even playing meaningful games the last week of the season when you consider what they've had to overcome. The leader of their pitching staff, Brad Radke hasn't pitched in about a month while healing from a torn labrum and a cracked shoulder socket in his pitching arm. Rookie phenom Francisco Liriano went out with shoulder and elbow problems in August after having a phenomenal first half of the season. Because these are the Twins, not the Yankees, their slots in the rotation were filled with farmhands, in this instance by Boof Bonser and Matt Garza. Bonser's been lights out his last 4 starts while Garza has been steadily, and rapidly, improving.
That's before you consider how dramatically the team improved defensively when they installed Jason Bartlett at shortstop and Nick Punto at third. On the last Twins road trip of the season, Bartlett took away 20 hits in 10 games from opposing hitters. Nick Punto has the most incredible hand-eye coordination of any third baseman I've seen since Brooks Robinson. He's also got the best range in the AL while showing off his shortstop arm.
What Twins story would be complete without saying something about the Piranhas? Jason Tyner, Jason Bartlett, Luis Castillo and Nick Punto have created a ton of runs for this team, always taking the extra base, always keeping pressure on the defense, hitting balls into the gap and beating out infield hits.
For that matter, the Twins story just wouldn't be complete without mentioning the breakout seasons that Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau had in the middle of the lineup and that Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto had at opposite ends of the batting order, setting the table for Mauer, Cuddyer, Morneau and Torii.
Can too much be said for the jobs that Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson did this season? Gardy's Grinders kept grinding even when others, myself included, had written them off. When the Twins went on their 18 of 19 run, people kept saying that it was too much to expect them to get back into the playoff race. When the Twins gained a paltry game and a half on Detroit during that hot streak, the conventional wisdom said that our predictions were confirmed. Thank God we were wrong. Badly wrong.
Meanwhile, Rick Anderson did a masterful job of getting the most out of a pitching staff that was under constant duress due to the injuries.
Despite it all, the Twins have kept winning, albeit at times clumsily. Do they have a shot at winning a playoff series? Absolutely. The Twins went 25-10 on the road after the All Star break, losing only the series in Yankees Stadium. They're 68-30 overall since June 8, the date of their rebirth. Since June 8, they're leading the majors in hitting and pitching, too. Factor in Bonser's pitching with the confidence of a 10 year veteran, Cy Young award winner Johan Santana anchoring the rotation, baseball's deepest bullpen anchored by the healthiest great closer and a stable full of power arms and the tightest defense in baseball and I think they've got a definite shot at winning their last game of the season.
Another thing that should get noticed is the Twins chance to win the batting title (Joe Mauer), the AL MVP (Justin), the AL Cy Young Award (Johan), Manager of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year (Torii for coming back from last season's season-ending broken ankle in Boston) and Executive of the Year Terry Ryan in the same season.
It's already been an incredible ride but I've got to make a call, a la Bert Blyleven, that the Twins will win it all this season. We've had one celebration but we're hungry for 4 more.
Posted Tuesday, September 26, 2006 12:50 AM
August 2006 Posts
No comments.
