Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Its high time to gaze into the old crystal ball - 3 Twins should snag gold gloves this season - I see MVP's and batting titles past, present & future - and oh by the way Cy Youngs and potential Cy Youngs occupy our rotation and bullpen. Next year's starting staff will consist of any combination of Santana, Baker, Garza, Liriano, Slowey, Blackburn, and Perkins assuring winning teams for the next decade dampening any dream of a Twins world without Ron Gardenhire who will go along for the ride until being exposed every October. So that is the quandary in which I find myself - enamored with young talent I wouldnt trade for any other roster in baseball but frightened by the spectre of Gardy melting under the bright lights of the big stage. Can anyone who studied the 2007 season honestly say we have a well managed team ? Well-managed teams move runners over, run the bases at a post-little league level, execute more than one successful hit & run per month, drop down decent bunts, and at the very least find a way to manufacture one run per game. The 2007 Twins threaten the franchise record for being shut out. It gets worse - we play indoor baseball with a white roof. In late July the first place Tigers arrived in downtown Minneapolis. Outside the metrodome its hot hazy and 80. Inside Hubert H. Humphrey pumps you full of lung friendly air conditioning & in a similar violation of the Clean Indoor Air Act Jim Leyland chainsmokes Ron Gardenhire defying the statewide casino exempt smoking ban outmaneuvering the Gardentool in a series of 1 run games. Searching for a silver lining? Keep looking - firestarter Todd Jones saved all 3 games of a Tiger sweep & Gary Sheffield was HBP < 1 time.