The WGOM

Reusse Off of ScruFi’s Christmas Card List

September 1st, 2006 by SBG

Powers:

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was so incensed after Thursday's ballgame that he cut short his postgame news conference and stormed out of his own office.

For the talkative Gardenhire, that's the equivalent of Paris Hilton covering her face in front of the cameras and announcing, "No publicity, please!"

He was upset at the, uh, publicity his ballclub had received after consecutive losses to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday and Wednesday. He was particularly upset that some of us had seized on the Ozzie Guillen term "piranhas" and twisted it into something less complimentary.

A half hour later, he had migrated back to his office but was no less ticked off. He was red in the face, stomping around and sort of throwing things into his travel bag. The term "guppies," among others, didn't sit particularly well with him, he noted. But it was the overall derogatory tone of the media that really riled him, because his guys have been "battling their tails off."

Hilarious.

On the one hand, I like that Reusse doesn't write like he's employed by the Minnesota Twins. I don't know if I'd have written that article at that time, because the "Dead Crappies" have been pretty lively for most of the summer. But, I think there's some truth to the idea that when over half the lineup (throw in the DH into the school -- er, group) can't hit the ball over the fence, it's tough to score. I'm a big OBP guy, but punch is a good thing, too. At least Ol' Patrick drinks something other than the Kool-Aid. As someone who isn't afraid to ruffle feathers now and again, I tip my hat to Reusse.

On the other hand, ScruFi is sticking up for his players, which is fine, but I think the whole thing is a little bit of an overreaction. (Come to think of it, I've seen people overreact to a little feather ruffling myself from time to time.) There does seem to be a sense of entitlement at 34 Kirby Puckett Place, though. The Twins think that they are entitled to good press and for the most part they seem to control what is written by the local media establishment. Even in an exciting season, there's room for criticism and perhaps the manager should ignore it. Whatever. A little controversy isn't a bad thing now and again. And guess what? The Twins didn't exactly knock around Mr. de la Rosa yesterday, either. And Phil Nevin wasn't acquired just to keep relations up with Andy McPhail.

But, never forget, they are "battling their tails off."

Update: More Powers:

But I don't want to be critical. First, the Twins won on Thursday. Second, these Royals apparently are the best 49-86 team in the history of baseball. For three days I kept hearing about how good they are, although I continue to have a hard time seeing any resemblance between them and the 1927 New York Yankees. And there still is no way the Twins should have been shut out by junk-balling Mark Redman on Tuesday night.

"They're playing their tails off," Gardenhire said of the Royals.

Tail feathers everywhere.

Thursday's victory enabled the Twins to pick up a game on both the Tigers and White Sox. Apparently, they are going to live to tell about losing two out of three at home to the Royals.

What was supposed to be an opportunity now can be labeled "not a complete disaster."

That's something, I guess.

Looks like Tom doesn't want a Christmas Card, either.

This entry was posted by SBG on Friday, September 1st, 2006 at 11:33 am and is filed under Local Media, MLB, Minnesota Twins. It is one of 2465 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.