And they are going to the playoffs again with a payroll ($63 million going into the season) approximately half the size of the team they beat at Fenway Park last night.
Amazing. It is Sept. 20, and the Red Sox have been done for more than three weeks while the Twins are winning with rookie pitchers and talented faces with no names.
OK, so maybe you'd recognize Torii Hunter, Joe Mauer, and/or Johan Santana, but you could take the rest of the Twins, line 'em up shoulder-to-shoulder in Quincy Market and challenge Hub pedestrians to identify them.
Hmmm. Let's guess. The New England Revolution? The Dropkick Murphys? The Sons of Sam Horn?
No. These are the Minnesota Twins, owners of a 64-28 record since June 7, and a team nobody wants to face in October -- particularly in a five-game series, which could mean facing Santana twice and playing two games in the pinball arcade known as the Metrodome. The Twins are 50-24 at home this year, including a 3-0 record vs. your Boston Red Sox. Counting spring training, the Twins are 8-1 overall against your Red Sox. Boston's lone victory was a Grapefruit League contest, which was won only after the Twins had clinched the coveted Mayor's Cup.
It's startling to examine how the fortunes of these two teams have changed after the Sox arrived in the Twin Cities June 12. The Red Sox were a first-place team back then and no one in New England dared make any plans for October. Surely the Sons of Terry Francona were bound for their four straight playoff autumn. The Twins, meanwhile, were reeling, dumping players, and dodging the barbs and arrows of local fans and media. The big story in the Twin Cities was the announcement that the Minnesota Wild had hired some guy named Chris Snow.
Minnesota's three-game sweep of the Sox triggered a four-month surge, and last night the Twins pulled within a half-game of the Tigers (even in the loss column). They lead the White Sox by 4 1/2 (five in the loss column) in the wild card chase. Detroit lost at Chicago, 7-0.
Citing the June sweep of the Sox, Minnesota GM Terry Ryan said, ``That's about the time everything started to fall into place, and we've been on a roll ever since."
