Can the Twins do it again?

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 07/18/2007

 

 When you make it happen over and over year after year, the applicable clichés are, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish,” and “To finish first, you must first finish.” The Twins are believers after another slow start to the 2007 season.

 It appears that the boys of summer are ready to make their move. Last year the Twins came storming from way back to beat the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers in a photo-finish to grab the American League Central title on the final day of the season.

 Detroit qualified for the playoffs also as a wild card and captured the American League Championship. In back-to-back years, the best team in the American League has come from the American League Central. In 2005, the White Sox won the division and their first World Series since 1918.

 The Twins have won the division four times in the last five years. That’s the good news; the bad news is that they have no championships or World Series appearances to show for it.

 The weekend prior to the All-Star break, the Twins went to Chicago and became hit-men, beating the White Sox 20-14 and 12-0 in a double-header sweep, scoring a remarkable 32 runs in one day. Chicago came back to salvage the final two games of the series, but now the Twins have picked it up again, completing a four-game sweep of the Oakland A’s and winning six of their last eight games.

 Last year, the Twins were baseball’s best home team. If they are going to track down Detroit and Cleveland this year, they are going to have to play much better at home.

 In the first half of the season, the Twins were just 22-20 at home. Currently they are in the middle of a critical 10-game home-stand with six games this week against first-place teams Detroit and Los Angeles.

 The American League has five teams with 50 or more wins: Boston with 55, Los Angeles with 55, Detroit with 54, Cleveland with 54, and Seattle with 51. Only four teams qualify for the American League playoffs.

 It’s going to take 96-98 wins to make the playoffs. The Twins are right there with a 49-43 record. Can the Twins do it again?

 “If it happens once, you can do it twice,” said All-Star Torii Hunter. “Hopefully, we can stay consistent and play the game. It’s tough to do, but hopefully we can keep playing like this and keep banging, and I swear to you we can do it.”

 Good pitching and defense gives you a chance every night, and with two Cy Young Award-winning all-star ace Yohan Santana (11-6 with a 2.60 era) leading the way, the Twins have the talent and experience to win it.

Last year, the Twins had all-star starter Francisco Liriano in the first half until his untimely arm injury. This year, former number-one pick big Matt Garza (1-0) might be ready to deliver on his enormous potential.

 Garza is a gifted talent; he throws three pitches that include a 96-mile-per-hour fastball. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan shocked many when Garza did not make the team coming out of spring training this year, but it appears to me that a little extra time in the minors has served Garza well.

 He shut out the White Sox two weeks ago in Chicago with seven strikeouts. If he continues to pitch like that, watch out for the Twins. Remember, this team has reigning AL-MVP Justin Morneau, last week’s American League Player of the Week.

 Morneau said, “It’s amazing what happens when you get a little confidence. It really helps having Torii hitting behind me, having a veteran guy that’s doing so well who’s had a great career like he’s had. Hopefully I can stay healthy — you never know what can happen.

 “It’s a crazy game,” Morneau continued. “You always want to be thought of as one of the best players, and you want to have that drive and determination to help your team win. That’s the main thing: Get to the World Series and the playoffs. Hopefully we can stick around for a while longer and keep doing it.”

 Plus, the Twins have catcher Joe Mauer, the AL batting champion; six-time Gold Glove centerfielder Hunter, who is having his best season; and quiet but consistent second baseman Luis Castillo.

Manager Ron Gardenhire does a great job with this group; he recently won his career 500th game as a manager. He keeps this team focused and loose with young talent — that’s important. Here come the Twins.

 Fitz Notes & Quotes

Major League Baseball is back in a big way last year — the league netted $6 billion in revenues. The Twins have hit five Grand Slams already this season.

 Joel Maturi, help Tubby Smith — he needs help.

 Former Gopher media relations assistants Carlos McGee and Dana Noel were the last Black media relations employees at the University over a decade ago. Carlos is a school teacher in Michigan. Noel has spent the last 14 years with Nike and has been extremely valuable to Nike with his ability to build relationships with so many great athletes.