THROWING YOU A CURVE
April 3, 2005

HOW DO THE TWINS 4-PEAT?

After winning the Central Division in the American League the last three seasons, the Twins again go into the 2005 season as the division favorites.

The Twins have won their division titles with good pitching and defense. Is that what is going to allow them to win again? I think not! In my opinion, they are going to have to score more runs this season than they have had to throughout the past three seasons.

Why, you might ask? Because the other teams in the Central Division got better over the winter months. Look for Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland to make a run at the Twins. Only the Kansas City Royals will struggle this season. They are rebuilding but their future doesn’t look bright. I respect the Royals manager, Tony Pena, very much and he was a former teammate of mine in our Pittsburgh days, but the Royal organization is where the Twins were five seasons ago. Hopefully some of their young future stars won’t press this season to try and compete.

Two key players for the Twins offense have to be Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. First, they have to stay healthy and second they need to produce some runs. Joe needs to show that his knee will hold up over the long season and you can bet that manager Ron Gardenhire and his coaching staff will start him out slow. That is one reason the Twins broke camp with four catchers. Justin Morneau had a lot of medical problems during the Winter but it looks like he’s ready to be the first Twins player to hit 40 or more homeruns since 1970. That was the year that Harmon Killebrew hit 41 homeruns and had 113 RBIs. Wow! Wouldn’t Twins like those numbers this season from Justin? They will need them!

The Detroit Tigers have strengthened their offense by adding free agent, All-Star Magglio Ordonez and getting a healthy Dmitri Young back, who missed about 1/3 of last season because of injuries. And remember they added Twin killer Troy Percival to their bullpen. The Twins have never scored an earned run off of him in ten years! What the Tigers need is good starting pitching and I don’t think they will get consistency from their fourth and fifth starters. But with Ivan Rodriquez, Carlos Guillen, Rondell White, Carlos Pena, Ordonez and Young, they should score plenty of runs.

The Chicago White Sox, under manager Ozzie Guillen, are going into the 2005 season with a new look. Over the past three seasons, the White Sox have relied on the long ball. This season they are going to score runs with speed. They added Scott Podsednik, who led the National League last season with 70 stolen bases, as their leadoff hitter. They signed free agent Tadahito Iguchi from Japan. He has speed and he is a very good defensive second basemen. The Twins better hope he’s not another Ichiro! Then they added former Twin, A.J. Pierzynski, who is not a speedster on the base paths but a very smart catcher. They also added All-Star right fielder Jermaine Dye. Both Pierzynski and Dye are good hitters with some power. Frank Thomas looks he might be able to join the lineup by the All-Star break, if not sooner, and he will help Paul Konerko, Aaron Rowand and Joe Crede knock in some runs.

In the end, however, the Cleveland Indians might be the team to watch the closest. Their offense added Juan Gonzalez and a healthy Aaron Boone. It is a lineup that already has some speed with Coco Crisp (great name), some good hitters like Ron Belliard and Casey Blake and some power from Travis Hafner, Ben Broussard and Victor Martinez. The BIG question for the Indians will be, can Juan Gonzalez stay healthy? He is a two-time American League MVP, but has been hurt the last few seasons. On the pitching side, after starters C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee and newly acquired Kevin Millwood, who will step up and be the fourth and fifth starters? And can their middle relievers get to closer Bob Wickman?

All these questions and concerns will work their way out during the 162 game schedule, but isn’t it fun to try and look into the future and see that there are a lot of things that go into winning a division title? That word health always seems to come up, doesn’t it?

Pitching and defense is the key, but when the Twins play the three teams above, they better bring their RBI bats to the ballpark with them. There are no steroids here, just a group of teams that are trying their best to play the game of baseball and win a division.

Speaking of steroids, please do not use them. Let your God-given ability get you to your final destination. Drugs are bad! Try and live a clean life.

I pray all my readers life a full and happy life. You are all "Hereby Circled."

Your baseball friend,
Bert Blyleven