| ||||||||||||||||||
|
THROWING YOU A CURVE
WE HAVE TO PROUD OF THESE TWINS Even though the Twins lost to the Yankees in four games in the Division Series, we have to very proud of the way this Twins team played this season. The so-called experts were picking the Twins to finish third behind the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox at the beginning of the season. Well, they won the Central Division by almost ten games. Many injuries set this team back throughout the season but they didn’t give up. Manager Ron Gardenhire, who I feel should be the American League Manager of the Year, and his coaching staff, did a great job of using the Twins farm system to fill the positions of the injured players. Guys like Lew Ford, Terry Tiffee, and Jason Kubel helped along with other reserves like Henry Blanco and Michael Cuddyer to make this a successful season. Rick Anderson did a super job keeping the pitching staff healthy throughout the year and made sure that everyone stayed involved. There were many moments throughout the season that this team could have fallen behind but they didn’t give up, did they? Give the everyday players credit for their determination and desire. Give the pitching staff credit for the times things didn’t go right, but they kept throwing that baseball. As I look back over the season here are my picks for the season.
It is hard to pick only one pitcher because they all had a great season filling their roles. By the way Johan Santana will win the 2004 American League Cy Young Award. And that’s a CALL! Give credit to Twins General Manager Terry Ryan and minor league farm director Jim Rantz and his staff. What a job they did getting the right group of players on the roster to help the Twins win games. Also give credit to Twins owner Carl Pohlad, Twins President Dave St. Peter and his staff in continuing to keep ticket prices down. Also give credit to the players themselves for all their community involvement in helping others and the Twins organization. So many times the player’s involvement in the Twins Cities and surrounding areas are overlooked. It will be a very interesting winter for the Twins. Can they re-sign Brad Radke and Corey Koskie, who are free agents? What will they do with all the extra outfielders they have that are ready to play everyday at the major league level? Guys like Michael Restovich and Jason Kubel. Where does this leave Jacque Jones? Do the Twins pick up Cristian Guzman’s option? Do they offer Santana a long-term contract to keep him away from arbitration? Can they count on Joe Mauer behind the plate next season? Many questions to be answered but I’m sure Terry Ryan and his staff will again give Gardy and his staff a winning group of players going into the 2005 baseball season. Let’s watch and see how this winter goes, but let’s also remember that the 2004 Minnesota Twins baseball team was a very good team. Be proud of these guys and hope all of them are looking forward to Spring training already and another shot at beating those damn Yankees in the post season next October. Stay healthy and thanks for reading my columns. I will continue to write columns throughout the winter months as we all look forward to Minnesota Twins baseball in 2005.
Your baseball friend,
| ||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||
