Twins fly high, but plummet to All-Star break
By John Gilbert
The first half of the 2011 Major League Baseball season has been intriguing, to say the least. For the Minnesota Twins, the unanimous bandwagon residents who started the season jumped off to become doomsayers by All-Star time. Both extremes are probably mistaken.
It all came so easy for the Twins at the start of the season — the new ballpark, the big contract for hometown hero Joe Mauer, and a runaway start to the season that seemed to leave all the contenders behind. But it’s a long season in Major League baseball, and it was even a long way to the midpoint.
The Twins dropped from the clouds and reached the All-Star break much the way a man lost in the desert crawls across the last sand dune to find an oasis with water and shade. Ah, safe at last. But mostly, in equal doses, the oasis is a chance to regenerate for the Twins, and the opportunity to slow down the rampaging Chicago White Sox.
If you look at the standings at the break, Chicago was 49-38, leading Detroit (48-38) by a half-game, and the Twins (46-42) by three and a half in the division. That doesn’t sound too bad, but you have to look at what has happened in the last month before the break.
Better yet, let’s go back to the start of the season. Everyone was predicting a runaway for the Twins, because of Mauer, Morneau, and the addition of Jim Thome and a couple of infielders, plus those strong and young arms on the pitching staff. Me? I have watched Major League ball my whole life, and I’ve seen these artificial hype jobs. My preseason assessment was:
I think the Twins will score runs by the tons, but I don’t know if their pitching staff can keep any opponent from scoring more runs than they deserve. The new ballpark is going to be an enormous attraction, but fans who show up had better be prepared for some mighty shootouts, because the Twins pitching is as suspect as their offense is imposing. Without question, the Twins have the best talent in the division, but when things get tight, generally good pitching shuts down good hitting. The Twins will be tough to shut down, but on many dates, they may find it impossible to shut down even mediocre foes.
Those looking down from the bandwagon thought I was being negative. Especially when the Twins started out with a roar. Those strong, young arms were impressive. Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey, seemed destined to battle over which would be the staff ace, but after breezing through four or five innings, they’d get hammered. Nick Blackburn, however, looked like an ace, virtually unbeatable all through May. The biggest surprise to me was that Francisco Liriano had made a remarkable comeback after sitting out a whole season with surgery on his prized left arm, followed by season-long struggles in his attempts to return last season.
Liriano used to throw a great fastball and a stunning screwball, which backed up on left-handed hitters and broke away from right-handed hitters. However, the excessive torque a screwball places on a pitching elbow undoubtedly was the cause of Liriano’s ailments. He came back last year but couldn’t throw with the same velocity, or location. This year, Liriano is a different pitcher. He has gotten the velocity back up into the 90s on his fastball, and he has abandoned the screwball for a great slider, which he throws at different speeds to include a change-of-pace from his fastball.
With Liriano and Blackburn carrying the main load, the Twins ran up a 22-12 starting record as of May 13. That was good for a lead over Detroit (20-15) by two and a half games, while Chicago was 14-20, tied with the Cleveland Indians eight games off the pace.
A month later, on June 13, not much had changed, and everything had changed. The Twins were still in command, although some holes were showing. Justin Morneau’s sizzling bat carried the offense, even while the redoubtable Joe Mauer was struggling to stay in the mid-.300s — a departure for him, while other Major League players would be thrilled to be hitting anywhere over the .300 mark.
What had changed was the pitching. Blackburn, invincible in May, seemed able to only hit the fat parts of opposing bats in June, and his record reversed itself. Liriano was either great or awful, in somewhat equal amounts. It was Carl Pavano who rose up, throwing shutouts and complete games. Morneau kept hitting, Mauer hit less, but the Twins had a 36-27 record one month ago, on June 13, which was good enough to lead Detroit (33-29) by two and a half, and Chicago (28-34) by seven and a half.
On July 1, the Twins were 43-36, which led Detroit (41-36) by one slim game, while nobody seemed to notice that Chicago never lost anymore. Quietly, at least in Minnesota, the White Sox improved to 40-37, and trailed the Twins by only two games. The Twins kept faltering; nobody but Pavano looked good among the starting five, and the middle relief corps was getting bombarded.
Morneau caught a knee to the head sliding into second and was sidelined with a concussion that knocked him out of the All-Star game. Mauer, who spent the first two months hitting in bad luck — meaning he went out quite a bit, but usually only by smacking line drives that led to great catches. Detroit slipped past, but then the White Sox roared past both of them. As we paused for All-Star break, July 13, the White Sox had risen to 49-38 to take over the division lead, a half game ahead of Detroit (48-38), and three and a half ahead of the sputtering Twins (46-42).
While the Twins reached their oasis to regroup, the White Sox hammered Kansas City 15-5 to go into the break on an eight-game winning streak, and a more-amazing surge of a 25-5 run. They went from being an under-achieving also-ran to a run-away missile. They were a third-place team sitting nine games under .500 and 9 1/2 games out of first place in the American League Central on June 8, but rode that rocket to become a first-place team by the break.
Suddenly, the bandwagon jumpers are spewing news of hopelessness, but that’s not accurate, either. A Minneapolis columnist and radio guy said that because Delmon Young was having his best year ever, the Twins should trade him (!) for another starting pitcher. Hold on, here. A great starting pitcher can win once every five or six games, while a solid .300-plus hitter in the middle of the lineup can help win EVERY game.
The Twins staff at All-Star break shows Carl Pavano 10-6, with a 3.58 earned-run average, and three complete games; Baker 7-8, and 4.87; Liriano has slipped to 6-7, and 3.86; Blackburn has found sea-level at 7-7, with a bloated 6.40 earned run average, making it difficult to remember that he has the only other complete game on the staff. Slowey has shown signs of maturing, and is 8-5, with a lowering 4.64 ERA.
The White Sox pitchers are hardly burning up the league, either, but they also are big and strong. Gavin Floyd, for instance, is 5-6 for record, but he’s also an imposing 6-foot-6 and 235 pounds. Get this: All 12 Sox pitchers are 6-foot-2 or taller, and only one — John Danks — weighs under 220. Danks is 210. Sox closer Bobby Jenks is 6-4 and 275. Must eat a lot of Chicago steaks and Gino’s East deep-dish pizzas for pre-game, post-game, or both.
However, as we assess the Twins, their hitting also is worthy of scrutiny. Morneau went out leading the team in home runs and hitting a splendid .345, while Delmon Young rose to second on the team at .305. Mauer has slipped to .293. Denard Span, who was so hot early, is now at .273. Michael Cuddyer (.267) and Jason Kubel (.264) should be hitting better, and Jim Thome will rise from .255 as he gets more at-bats.
Looking only at hits, Morneau’s halfway stats show 102, Span 97, Cuddyer 86, Mauer — tied with Young — at 85, while Hudson has 81, and Kubel 73. Anothber vital category is runs batted in, where Young leads the team at 58, followed by Morneau 56, Kubel 49, Cuddyer 40, Span 37, Mauer 35, and Thome 29, even though he has only 145 at-bats, to 290 for Mauer. The other big key is runs scored, where leadoff man Span leads with 54, clean-up man Morneau 53, Cuddyer 50, Hudson 49, Mauer 47, and Young 38.
When the Twins hit, they seem to get taken down by faulty pitching; when their pitching is strong, they don’t hit well; when their starting pitchers do well, the middle relief collapses. But keep a few things in mind:Â There is still a lot of time to get it together. The season is only half through. The White Sox can’t keep playing at a 25-5 clip. Mauer will get his act together and start hitting over .300 again. The young pitchers with their live arms will become more consistent.
And the first series coming out of the All-Star break? The White Sox face the Twins. It should be fun, but just don’t let the gloom-sayers get to you. If it seems that all the Twin Cities columnists are writing as though they are talk-radio responders — they are, come to think of it.
WORLD CUP WINNERS
Spain won its first World Cup of soccer, after a rugged and style-free struggle to a 1-0 extra- time triumph over the Netherlands. It was a long, tough tournament in South Africa, but there was some great soccer sprinkled in among the yellow and red cards that seemed to dominate at the finish.
Every time I was impressed with a team, such as Brazil, or Argentina, or Ghana, or Germany, it seemed as though that team would then lose its next game. That was great, however, because it showed how competitive the world is when it comes to playing soccer.
Congratulations to Spain, and we can only hope that the all-time largest viewing crowd included enough U.S. observers to boost soccer to its rightful place in this country in time for a concerted effort four years from now, when it starts all over again.
XCEL CENTER LANDS NCAA PUCK
The Minnesota Wild’s Xcel Energy Center, which will be host to the 2011 NCAA Men’s Hockey Frozen Four next April 7-9, will also be the site of the 2012 West Regional in St. Paul. The NCAA sure does like those huge crowds the X can attract for college hockey.
It is the fourth straight year that the Twin Cities will play host to the NCAA hockey’s premier event and the third consecutive visit to Xcel Energy Center for the popular tournament. Xcel Energy Center also hosted the 2002 Frozen Four, which saw the Gophers defeat Maine in the title game, and held the West Regional for 2010.
The arena seats 18,064 for hockey, and has also been the site of the past 10 WCHA Final Five tournaments.
The 2012 West Regional will be played on March 23-24, or March 24-25, with each of the four participating teams having an open practice on the day before their opening round games. The regional winner earns a trip to the Frozen Four, which will be held at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla., in 2012.
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About the Author
John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
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