I was disappointed with the Twins 1-0 loss to the White Soxs in one game playoff to decide the A.L. Central Drivision champion. However, that the Twins were competitive at all was a pleasant surprise, and I have great hope for the future of this team. Why? Look what the Twins accomplished despite:
· Having lost the best pitcher in baseball in Johan Santana, an All-Star outfielder in Torii Hunter, their starting shortstop in Jason Bartlett, and an innings eating starter in Carlos Silva.
· Off-season additions Livan Hernandez, Craig Monroe, Mike Lamb, and Adam Everett were almost all complete busts.
· Star player Michael Cuddyer missed almost the entire season due to injury.
· Major acquisition Delmon Young – who was suppose to hit 20 + HR’s and have 100 + RBI’s - hit 10 HR’s and had 68 RBI’s.
· Three starting players – Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, and Alexi Casilla were in their first full year in the majors
· None of the Twins five starting pitchers Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowly, Nick Blackburn, and Glen Perkins had ever gone a full year as a starter in the major leagues.
· The Twins hit the fewest home runs in the major leagues.
Despite all of this the Twins came within one run of winning the division. Yes, the Twins should have wrapped up the division title in their final series of the regular season when the inexplicitly lost two out of three to Kansas City. Still that they were even in the position at all was amazing.
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I created this blog in response to an assignment given to me for one of my graduate school classes. I named my blog the Minnesota Twins, Country Music, and Random Thoughts, because I have a passion for Twins baseball and Country Music. The Random Thoughts part comes in, because I know there will be others things I will want to write about that do not involve Twins baseball or Country Music.
