Obit Part I
Posted by FirstTimeLongTime on Tuesday, September 30th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
It took me 5 months and 25 days to give myself completely to the Minnesota Twins this year. In August, during a game log I wrote
How do you describe this season to someone who is not a Twins fan? Before this season started the pundits decreed "A rebuilding year for the Twins!" and I think it fair to say that we were all resigned to that fate—well, at least I was. We traded Johan, Bartlett, and Garza. Torii and Silva left with massive free agent deals to take up residency on the West Coast. Sure, we had a couple of young kids in Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez coming back in return, but with them both in their age 22 season we weren't expecting the world. All we knew about Gomez was that the kid was fast, and the only things we knew about Delmon were that he was the number 1 pick in the 2003 draft and that he was once suspended 50 games for chucking a baseball bat at an umpire. At best, we were cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season.
The season started off well enough, Gomez went 2-3 with 2 stolen bases and a double, Delmon Young went 2-4 with a stolen base, too. Hell, even Mike Lamb and Livan Hernandez had good games. ESPN went as far as to compare Hernandez to Johan, and Mike Lamb was intentionally walked! As if to wrap the whole thing up in a big red bow, the game ended with Nathan striking out Hunter. The new acquisitions were all playing well and I think that we all silently thought to ourselves, "Hey, maybe this team isn't so bad after all! If we keep this up, who knows, maybe we can claw our way through the season and be respectable? Maybe even finish .500?” Naturally, the Angles went on to win the next three games and Gomez and Young went a combined 50 for 200 over the next month. Granted, batting average isn't the best tool to measure success but if I listed their OBP's it would have been even more dreadful. Okay, their OBP was .276. After the first month our record was 13-14. That seemed about right, we were a .500 team. Fair enough, I can take that in a season after losing "FOTF" and Johan.
May came and went leaving us with a record of 28-27. Another month gone by and we were still hovering around a .500 record. It exceeded the expatiations of many but truth be told, it got some of us believing. Some of us had even started thinking, "You know, the Tigers aren't playing so well right now. As a matter of fact, neither are the Indians. Who knows, maybe with a couple of breaks this year we might even finish in second? That will show the Steve Phillips' of the world to doubt us." Even Gomez was starting to step it up a little bit. After a sweep of the Royals, his OPS was at its highest point in a month and a half. Hell, he had even hit for the cycle on May 7th, maybe the kid was starting to figure it out. Even Livan was contributing with a 6-2 record. Sure, xFIP far exceed his ERA and he was bound for a come down to earth, but who cared? We were 28-27 and the end of May. Put that in your pipe and smoke it baseballprognosticators!
June started slowly enough, after a sweep from the White Sox where our hometown nine were outscored 30-15, many Twins fans began to write the season off. You could practically hear the talk at the bars on First Avenue, “It was nice while it lasted." "Who knows, the kids looked alright this year, maybe next year we will close out the Metrodome with a playoff run!" "Hey, at least this way we will be able to trade Hernandez to a contender and maybe get something!”
Then inter-league baseball happened.
The Twins went 14-4 to end the month and suddenly they had a record of 45-38. I remember talking to my girlfriend around this time and telling her how it was starting to happen. She didn't understand what I was talking about at first. I told her that this Twins team was really starting to make me care. She laughed it off and called me a weirdo; I told her that I didn't think she got it.
At that time the Twins were a half a game ahead of the White Sox for the division lead. Over the next month and a half the Sox and Twins exchanged the lead a handful of times leading up to the series last week, where the Twins were 2.5 games back with three games upcoming in the Metrodome. As you may or may not know the Twins rolled off three consecutive victories, highlighted by a 7-6 extra innings come back win to sweep the White Sox.
I was hooked. This was a team that I was in love with.
You see, baseball is a completely unique in the fact that a season lasts 162 games. Over that time you can really fall in love with a team. It is not like football where you can forget something like when Derick Holmes lead the Bills in rushing one season. It isn't like hockey where the day in and day out success of your team depends on your goalie. It isn't like basketball where one player can carry a team for the season. When you watch a team day in and day out for 6 months you know everything about a team. You know the favorite band of your third basemen. You know that your center fielder will swing at any off speed pitch down and away. You know that your coach will time and time again choose the wrong reliever to go to before he even does it.
Baseball is a commitment like no other sport. The average adult baseball fan spends more time watching their favorite team than with their family during a season. I couldn't tell you if my mother was using a new brand of toothpaste but you had better bet your ass I would know if Joe Mauer was. It is just the nature of the beast. 162 games is a long time.
That is why this hurts so much. For 158 games I was guarded about this team. I knew that they were over preforming, no matter what their Pythagorean record said. I knew that this team could not sustain their batting average with runners in scoring position. But after last Thursday night none of that mattered to me. This 2008 Minnesota Twins were family to me. My girlfriend would come over and watch the games with me. She knew Morneau, Nathan, Blackburn, and Mauer. This past week she realized that this team mattered to me more than work, more than friends, hell, more than the Buffalo Bills. It was a pennant race goddammit. She dutifully gave me space and would call me each night to ask me how the Twins were doing.
I think that was the hardest part about tonight. When I called her and she answered. She heard the tone of my voice and immediately said that she was sorry.
Baseball isn't like football. When your baseball team loses its chance to go to the playoffs in a play in game against your most hated team it is almost like a friend dying. No more game logs on the WGOM. No more reading 10 different Twins sites daily to soak up every single last bit of information about your favorite team. No more nights of sitting by myself watching mlb tv, chain smoking cigarettes with a beer in hand and screaming at my computer while cursing Nick Punto for his inability to properly bunt.
I will miss it. I will miss it more than I can even admit. Baseball can be the greatest thing in the world, when your team is winning. But let me tell you, nothing, absolutely nothing, hurts more than watching your favorite team lose a one game playoff to your most hated team.
Thank you for indulging me and reading this. I know that this is a little all over the place but I had to get it out somewhere. A friend came over for the game tonight and I sat here silently for 10 minutes after the game ended. He gets it, he is a Pirates fan. Sometimes I envy Yankees and Red Sox fans. They get to feel good almost every year. I will tell you this though, when it happens for the Twins, oh boy, I will feel all 26 Yankees World Series Championships rolled into one. I will not take it for granted. I will enjoy every second of it.
I am encouraged for next season, there is no question about it, but I will tell you what, this stings. This stings bad.
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FTLT -- Thanks for having me over. I felt like a curse the whole damn time. You gave me a Twins cap to wear though. I did my best impression of a rally cap as the game became a little too scoreless.
Y'know, I remember reading that post back in August and I think I told you to just enjoy the overachieving, for whatever it was worth. Hell, you even got me hooked if only to root against the current baseball status quo.
On the drive home I had a similar thought and then upon reading this post my reflection was reinforced. When the Sabres lost 1-0 in Ottawa during the ECF two seasons ago, I left my girlfriends house barely being able to speak. I mumbled some goodbyes but my throat was dry and my head was spinning. It wasn't a do or die situation but like tonight, you knew it was over.
Did she get it? I had hoped so. Does anybody get it? Well, that's why posts like yours come out -- to explain the glorious heartbreaking triviality of being a sports fan.
Good stuff man...terrific stuff.
ditto.
you know, baseball is a lot like family. It may give you heartache, sweaty palms, indigestion. But it gives back a lot of little joys and love over the long haul, too. You don't even have to finish in first, or second, or even contention (as I'm sure talkinproud can attest, or any Royals fan). a win over the Yankees in April or a GoGo bunt hit when everyone in the stadium knew he was going to bunt...or, as ubelmann reminded us on sunday, just the stories. Those are the things we'll really treasure.
ahh, screw it! that's loser talk. I hope the Rays kick some BitchSox @ss!
It's just the thought that bugs me the most...the Twins were SO close to being AL Central champs.
I look at and watch all the commercials and game previews done by TBS, ESPN, etc...and think, "man, it'd be AWESOME to hear them breaking down a series with the Twins involved." Or watching Mauer and Morneau highlights on TBS's postseason promotion commercials with the music and everything.
I have never been one to swim in the joy of consolation or moral victories...whether it be personal or as a fan...but honestly, that's all I have right now...and it stinks.
He's not a Royals fan, it is even worse, he is a Pirates fan!
yah, I know. those were separate clauses. but I can see how my wording could confuse.
Very well written, FTLT.
I woke up this morning thinking how it's just not right that the Twins don't have a game today. I'm never really ready for the season to be over, but it seems like this year I'm even less ready than normal. Maybe it was the suddenness of it, I don't know.
Baseball is such a strange game. For six months, every day, day after day, you have a game. And then, all of a sudden, you don't any more.
The Twins were never going to have a game today
but that notwithstanding, I feel exactly the same as you do.
I have no idea how I am supposed to work today. The text messages from last night that are sure to continue throughout the day. The upcoming emails either wishing me well or taunting me, the phone calls to ask me how I am doing. Today is going to be a rough one, but what can you do?
I guess I take a shower, get dressed, put on my Twins cap, and go to work like any other day.
I just really hope that I don't see any White Sox fans today. Because I will tell you what, if a single one of them makes a smart ass remark I am libel say something pretty nasty.
There was a guy working the convenience store near my school this morning (in Minneapolis, BTW) wearing a Sox hat. Of course, I was wearing my brand new Rays BP cap, so we both exchanged pensive looks, but ended up having a respectful exchange.
Well written post, FT. It reminded me of my wedding ceremony, when the pastor (also a big Twins fan) chided me that my wife comes first, even ahead of the Twins! Well, that's been tough ;), but I know she appreciates no longer being a "baseball widow" for a few months again. 2008 has been a long, ultimately satisfying season, and 2009 looks promising (if the GM doesn't screw the pooch this offseason).
I think as a tribute to this year, I'll finally get my 1988 Homer Hanky framed and put up with the others. Oh, and "Go Rays!"
I'll tell you what's worse than losing a one-game playoff with the Sox. Losing a best of five series to the Yankees. Twice! The Sox are our rivals, bar none, but I love this rivalry. It's a good, healthy rivalry, based on good ol' fashioned hard playing and wins and losses (and AJ). The Yankees (and Red Sox) are free-spending snobs that dominate with money rather than smart general managing. I hate losing to them so much. 2004 was a killer. At least when we lost to the A's, they were a similarly built team.
I cheered for the White Sox in 2005, and was glad they won the series. However, I'm not too prone on cheering for a team to win a second this soon after their last. That's why the Rays are the only AL team I really want to cheer for. On the NL, I'll also be cheering for the winner of the Phillies-Brewers series. (I would cheer for the Cubs... but it's just so much fun watching them lose). I have a lot of respect for the White Sox. I like Ozzie. He's nuts, but he makes the game interesting. AJ's a pain, but he was our pain first. Thome's a killer, but damn can he hit. Dye, Konerko, Quentin, even Griffey, all of them are good guys, they're just on the wrong team.
For all the times the Twins won the division this decade, I'm okay with the Sox taking only their second. We'll get our revenge next year, and this rivalry will live on.
The Yankees (and Red Sox) are free-spending snobs that dominate with money rather than smart general managing.
2008 Opening Day Salaries
Yankees: $209,081,577
Red Sox: $133,390,035
White Sox: $121,189,332
Angels: $119,216,333
Twins: $56,932,766
Rays: $43,745,597
I'd say the White Sox are pretty free spenders, too, just $12 million less than the Red Sox and a couple million more than the Angels. But man, that Yankees payroll is appalling for a team that didn't make the playoffs. For the sake of comparison, the nation of Tonga has an annual gross domestric product of $219 million.
I remember reading an article on MLB.com on how the Angels are a model organization. Sure, if you have $120 million to spend, great organization to copy.
Well, what a night last night. There were 2 TV's in the suite we were in along with plenty of cold beer and tasty food. I watched the first period of the Wild game with my family, while Blackburn hung a bunch of zeros on the board. Then during the 1st intermission, I walked up and began the horrible process of watching Danks and Jenks shut down our boys for the final 4 innings. After watching about 15 horrible at bats and the BitchSox celebrate, I settled down and watched the Wild beat the Black Hawks (in overtime).
It was symbolic for me as it was the passing from one of my passions (Twins baseball) to another (Wild hockey).
Lasting thoughts on 2008... Wow!! How the hell did we do it? No Santana, or Hunter. All of our pickups (Lamb, Hernandez and Everett) were horrible. We lose Neshek and Cuddy for most of the year. LIriano misses the first half. DYoung has a down year. Crazy that we were even able to compete for the title.
Thoughts of next year.... A rotation of Baker, Liriano, Slowey, Blackburn and Perkins should only improve. We have some depth at starting pitching with Humber, Boof and whatever washed up veteran we pick up and place in Rochester.
Barring injury, a bullpen with Nathan, Neshek, Mijares as anchors looks pretty good to me. If we can get Guerrier back on track or Crain, we should be fine.
DSPAN2, Casilla, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel/Cuddyer, DYoung/Cuddyer, Harris/Buscher, Punto and Gomez for a lineup looks acceptable to me.
However, I would love it if we somehow picked up a quality middle reliever, and a right handed power bat in the off season through FA or trade. The bat would preferably take residence in the left side of our infield. I could see Punto back at utility, spelling Casilla, shortstop and 3rd base.
BTW for hockey fans out there.... Backstrom looked pretty sharp last night. Koivu and Gaborik already look fast and tenacious, and the Boogeyman looks a little more pissed off this year. If Burns and Gaborik can stay healthy, I like our chances this year.
I'm really excited for next year. Not only was this team young, but I really felt it had a lot of bad luck down the stretch. Look at the record in one-run games and extra-inning games. And five 1-0 losses.
The biggest thing the Twins need to improve on is the bullpen, but that might be solved in-house. A healthy Neshek is the biggest addition. Crain will be a full year from surgery. Mijares will have a full spring training with the team and all the experience of the last couple weeks. Boof will be more used to relieving and/or will be traded for help. Nathan is Nathan and I doubt he will blow six saves next year. Plus, Korecky will be fighting for a job in spring training, Humber is out of options, and Robert Delaney should be ready by midseason, if not sooner. I'm sure Craig Breslow will be back and will be with the team for the full season, although it would be difficult to expect him to be as good next year as he was this year for the Twins.
The next most important thing to improve upon is the defense. Tops on my wish list is Orlando Hudson. Yes, he's a second baseman, but Casilla's natural position is shortstop. Hudson would be a great No. 2 hitter (he hit third for the Diamondbacks) and a top of the order of Span, Hudson, Mauer, and Morneau is downright scary. As a free agent he would be expensive and he would cost the Twins a draft pick as well, so this is probably unlikely to happen.
Adrian Beltre is another one I would like to get, but that also is probably a pipe dream. Orlando Cabrera is a free agent and won't be re-signed by the Sox. He's a very good defender and can hit pretty well as long as he's down in the order. He might still be too expensive for the Twins, however. If you want just great defense and aren't worried about offense, then Cesar Izturis is an option, but how much better defensively he would be than Punto is up for debate.
The Twins also need to add more power and protect Morneau better to provide a more balanced lineup that will be more consistent. Losing five 1-0 games is going to stick with me for awhile, as well as all the late blown leads the last six weeks of the season.
For some reason, and this is just a hunch...I think Orlando Hudson signs with the White Sox which would allow for Alexi Ramirez to make the move to SS.
As much as I love Sideshow, I do not have high hopes for him next season. In fact, it would not surprise me if by this time next year he was not recovering from TJ surgery.
Sideshow?
Sideshow Pat Neshek.
Gotcha.
I thought it was him, but I wasn't 100% sure.
The Twins should approach the Neshek situation like he'll never be an effective pitcher again. You just can't bank on that happening.
It's fun to see so many guys put up surprisingly good performances this year, but the real trick is in sustaining it through a second season
I'd guess that next year we'll see some regression from at least two members of the starting rotation (and I'll nominate Baker and Perkins here), as well as from a few guys in the lineup (say, Span, Punto, Buscher, and maybe Kubel and Morneau to some degree). But maybe a full season from Liriano, and retooled bullpen, and improvements from Young and Casilla would make up for it, and then some.
.
Let's just all admit that Baby Jeebus is something special. But, he might not hit .330 next year. Then again, he might. I think that Blackburn is probably more likely to regress than Baker. Hopefully, Mike Cuddyer rebounds. We definitely need a right handed bat, though. Plus, maybe Gomez will be better at the plate.
But, I think that Cleveland and Detroit will be better.
I think it's going to be a three way fight between Minnesota, Chicago, and Cleveland next year. There's going to be massive shakeups in Detroit this offseason, but I don't think they are really going to get much better.
I always backed Baker, even when Dick n' Bert and most Twins fans thought he was a 4-A pitcher, but a 3.45 ERA is a pretty high standard to maintain. I expect him to be solid next year, but I'm not sure he's THAT good.
I hope Cuddyer rebounds; but, like ubelmann once pointed out, he does have trouble getting through a season without trips to the DL and some injury that puts a crimp in his performance. The last two seasons he's had injuries to his fingers, which could continue to mess with his swing if his hands aren't well, and next year he'll be three years removed from his Age 27 breakout season--which is starting to look like an anomaly.
It was a huge break for the team to get such good production from Span, in Cuddyer's place, this year. He looked pretty good this summer, and he certainly has tools and all the enthusiasm in the world, but I'm just not completely convinced that it wasn't just a few months of rookie magic. That minor league track record still nags at me. That goes for Gomez, too. I know that Gomez has been rushed through the minors--and he probably should've spent this season at AAA, really--but it's surprising to see just how mediocre his minor league stats have been.
Good point on Cleveland and Detroit. This year the Twins really took advantage of the fact that two expected contenders fell flat and left the division without a dominant team. If one of those teams or Chicago puts up a better fight and wins ~95 games next year, can the Twins still improve enough to keep pace? I think Bill Smith probably needs to make a few shrewd moves this winter.
Reminder #3007: Span had lasik, so his prior minor league track record may have been hampered.
Was he not playing with contact lenses before?
However, I would love it if we somehow picked up a quality middle reliever, and a right handed power bat in the off season through FA or trade. The bat would preferably take residence in the left side of our infield. I could see Punto back at utility, spelling Casilla, shortstop and 3rd base.
Two guys I think the Twins should target significantly this off-season:
Adrian Beltre
Juan Cruz
If the Twins did that, and nothing else externally, I'd be pleased...very pleased.
Nicely penned obit, Buffalo. (Who died?)
Hold your head high, FTLT. Nothing to be ashamed of, and so much to look forward to. With a few tweaks, there's no reason to think this current team can't contend for the next 5-6-7 years. Just you watch.
In the meantime, Go Tampa Bay (Ybor City)!
We knew it had to end this way
For those who would know...where can I get defensive statistics like the +/- stat, etc?
Can get RZR and OOZ from The Hardball Times. Select one of the dropdowns for AL or NL and pick Fielding. I think have to pay to see the +/-, but haven't looked at all.
Bill James Online looks like an intriguing website at $3/month.
Anyone subscribe to that and have any insight on whether someone should subscribe or not?
The only thing that I pay for is baseball-reference's play index. As if b-r wasn't already enough to get lost in for hours, I can now literally spend a whole day on their site.
I haven't spoken to anyone who has Bill James online, I figure for $3 for a month it is worth a shot, right?
Care to elaborate on that play index?
Baseball-Reference Play Index. I finally shelled out for a subscription and have been happy with it. The ability to do random searches on just about anything is a lot of fun.
Gotcha, thanks!
This was beautifully written. Here's my addition with how my last week went.
My seemingly healthy 51-year-old aunt died of a brain aneurysm on Sunday. Nothing puts a baseball season into perspective than something like that. I watched every pitch of the game on Tuesday, nervously, partially because it kept me from thinking about what I had to face at visitation and the funeral, but partially because I loved the team so much, I couldn't not watch them. It hurt like everything when the game was over and we lost, but the Twins will be back. Some of the names and faces may change, but there will still be nine guys in the batting order, nine guys on the feld, five men/boys in the starting rotation, a bullpen of six or seven, a decided lack of power hitters. Morneau will still be there. Mauer will still be there. Nathan will still be there. Of the group of Baker, Slowey, Liriano, Blackbunr, Slowey, Redmond, Casilla, Tolbert, Punto, Buscher, Kubel, Young, Cuddyer, Gomez, Span, Pridie, Neshek*, Crain, Breslow, Mijares, Guerrier, and others I'm likely forgetting, I'd bet most of them will be in Twins uniforms in March--for better or for worse. And I'd guess many of them will be wearing Twins uniforms well into April, too. The Twins will be back, to disappoint us, frustrate us, but probably make us fall in love with them all over again.
Right now we're faced with five months without any Twins baseball, and six months until official games begin. We've got one month left of baseball. And that's just too long.
*He'll be there in March. Based on what happened with Liriano, I'm nervous that TJ might be necessary for him, too.
Nicely put. As much time and emotion as we invest in baseball, it's important to keep it in perspective. And condolensces on the loss of your aunt.