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THROWING YOU A CURVE
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS Here we go! The Twins find themselves heading into September in the Wild Card race. They are about 12 games behind the Central Division leading Chicago White Sox and about four games behind the Cleveland Indians and in third place. Now is the time for them to make their move if they want to get back into postseason for the fourth consecutive year. Going into a baseball season, way back in April, all an organization wants is to get into September with a chance to play games that can decide the outcome of their long season. The Twins haven’t had the best offensive year but their pitching is the best in the American League. The pitching has picked up the offense all season long and let’s see if the offense can join the pitching staff over the last month? What we have seen over the last month has been good and bad for the Twins organization. The good is a steady diet of quality starts, night after night, and the bad is an offense that is sputtering. The Twins will have to start sweeping series rather then trying to win two of three. They will have to play their best baseball in September to have a chance. They have six games left each with the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians. They will control their own fate. The keys to a great September are simple. Keep the steady pitching going and find a way to score early runs for these guys. So many times this season the starters have received no decisions because of the lack of run support early in the game. The Twins have played 51 one-run games, the most in Major League baseball, and are 25-27 in these games. The Twins also lead the American League in the most come-from-behind wins. This does show that this team, even though they have lost a lot of one-run games, do not give up. With Torii Hunter lost for the season, Justin Morneau, Jacque Jones, Matthew LeCroy and Michael Cuddyer have to pick up the slack. The power guys in the lineup need to hit the homeruns necessary to create big innings. Joe Mauer needs to continue to hit and work with the pitching staff like he has the first five months. Jason Bartlett and Nick Punto need to continue playing good defense and find way to get on base. Shannon Stewart needs to stay healthy and lead this team like he has since coming over from Toronto in 2003. Sounds simple doesn’t it? Well it’s not simple. This team has a chance and we as fans of this team have to continue to support them and root for them through September. The late Tug McGraw had the 1969 Mets and their fans “believing.” This “believe” stuff is for real as long as you believe in your self first. You have to trust in what you are doing and believe that you can succeed. Without believing in yourself you have no choice but to fail. Life is too short to fail! I know the Twins will give it all they have over this last month. Maybe they might not get into postseason but they will go down fighting. I believe this! Thank you for reading my column and may all of you believe in your abilities.
Your baseball friend,
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