Thursday, October 05, 2023

Is the magic back?

It was 19 years ago on this date that the Minnesota Twins last won a postseason game.....until this past Tuesday.


It was 21 years ago tomorrow that the Minnesota Twins last won a postseason series.....until yesterday. 


With a two-game sweep over the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Wildcard Series, the Twins move on to the ALDS against the defending champion Houston Astros. Game One will take place this Saturday. And the way this Twins club has been rolling since early September (they lost only one series in the final month of the regular season), it's not outlandish to suggest that they can win this series. 


I'm old enough to remember the magical run of the 1987 World Series champion Twins and how the lack of expectations were something they fed off. I mean, they limped into the ALCS that year with a paltry 85 wins against a juggernaut Detroit Tigers club who won 98 games. Nevertheless, the Twins obliterated the Tigers 4 games to 1 in what longtime Twin Cities sports scribe (and uber baseball fan) Patrick Reusse has described as the franchise's most dominant postseason performance in their history. 


I know the Twins have played just two games thus far this postseason, but early on I'm getting the same vibes I felt back in '87. And it's hard to ignore some of the parallels. 


In 1987, Twins third baseman Gary Gaetti homered in his first two postseason plate appearances.





Then on Tuesday, budding star Royce Lewis turned that trick. 



 

Now, let's talk potential series pivoting moments. In the 1987 ALCS, the Twins squandered a golden opportunity to go up 3-0 in the series when Detroit's Pat Sheridan slugged a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning in Game 3 to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead. They'd go on to win the game by that same score. 

In Game 4 with the Twins leading 4-3 in the bottom of the 6th, the Tigers had the tying run at third base and go ahead run on second. On the first pitch Twins reliever Juan Berenguer delivered to Lou Whitaker, Twins catcher Tim Laudner caught it and quickly threw a dart to third base nailing Darrell Evans, who had strayed too far off the bag. 




That was especially huge when you consider Berenguer threw a wild pitch two pitches later. Had a runner still been on third, he would've scored to tie the game. The Twins would go on to win the game 5-3 and then clinch the series the next day. 

I couldn't help but think of that play on Wednesday when Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., who was the tying run on second base in the fifth inning of Game 2 against the Twins, was caught napping by Twins starter Sonny Gray and SS Carlos Correa. 




Blue Jays slugger Bo Bichette, who had already collected four hits in the first 1-1/2 games of the series, was at the plate when that play occurred. As a base runner you just can't take that big a lead when one of your top hitters is up and is the go-ahead run. Instead the Twins got through the fifth still up 2-0, which ended up being the final score, thus capping the sweep.


Am I saying this year's Twins team is destined to a make run similar to their 1987 counterparts? Again, we're only two games into this postseason, so a larger sample size is in order. But with both the playoff game and postseason series losing streaks behind them, the Twins' focus can completely shift to this year's quest. And the best part? The team which dealt the Twins 13 of their 18 consecutive playoff losses will pose absolutely no threat in this year's postseason. That alone should be cause for some calm in the midst of tense October baseball.


Buckle up!


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