(Before I begin, I should have acknowledged last week that with the end of the Wild's season, we are now in the fallow period of the WMNSS season, where there will be only two entries, the Twins and the Lynx, which will be the last Women's National Basketball Association team to start their season on Saturday. This time last year, after the Lynx were excused from the survey after winning the 2011 WNBA title, it was only one team each survey, the Twinks. Those were glorious times. Still, having to write for only two teams till mid-August, when the college fall sports season starts with the Gopher soccer and volleyball teams, is a walk in the park compared to the busy survey season once the three local basketball teams start play in November. As much as I love sports, I am grateful for this part of the year.)
#-1: Twins (Last Week: -Infinity). Wow. If they hadn't won Saturday or last (Monday) night, they would be staring at a 13-game losing streak. It's not as bad as the Miami Marlins, who are the worst baseball team on the continent, but once they hit the nadir, Friday's listless 6-0 loss (thank you, Samuel Deduno!), I would argue they were playing the worse baseball on the planet. They have rebounded winning two-of-three -- rally!!! -- but when the definitive story on the Minnesota Twinks 2013 season is told, the author will look back at the middle of May and know that all hope for anything good to come out of the season ended there.
I had been away for a few days, but I have yet to see something I thought would come with this epic losing streak: Any serious talk of Ron Gardenhire being fired as Manager. I don't really think a baseball Manager can do anything if the starting pitching sucks and the lineup can't hit. But as the losses kept piling up, I felt the same bloodlust other Twinks fans did. It's not fair, but typically during really long losing streaks someone has to pay. Plus, Gardy was given notice that his team has to show improvement. A ten-game losing streak is not improvement, not at all. This would have been a perfect time to can him, especially if the team continued to lose: They are on a long road trip and coming home with a fresh start is what shitty teams often do. But it looks Gardy's staying. Not saying I want him gone, but I'm surprised that he's staying after this hope-dashing losing stretch.
Oh, by the way, KARE's Keith Leventhal noted that on Monday night Twins Opening Day starter, Vance Worley, pitched a complete game five-hit shutout for AAA Rochester Monday night in the Red Wings' 5-0 victory over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Whoop-de-fucking-do. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle sportswriter Kevin Oklobzija noted that Worley could be the worst starting pitcher in Major League Baseball this year with a 1-5 record, an ERA of 7.91 and a WHIP (Walks plus Hits per Inning Pitched) of 1.99. This just proves to me Worley ain't nothin' more than a AAAA pitcher.
Not only was every matchup Memorial Day an interleague one, it was against their "natural" rival. That's why the Twins were playing in Milwaukee. I think interleague play used to start on Memorial Day, so I guess this will stay a tradition for the foreseeable future. And what I think is kind of neat, these are split four-game series, where the teams play in one city for two games then the other city for two. It would suck if your "natural" rival isn't natural at all; Atlanta is being spare-paired with Toronto, for example. But after playing one more at Miller tonight (Tuesday night), the Twins will finally come home to finish their series. They will then play a weekend series at Target against Seattle.
#-Infinity: Gopher baseball (Last Week: 0). I'm glad I was able to take in the last game of the Big Ten Championship Game. The thousand-plus people that were there is about the crowd I thought would gather featuring a game the Gophers weren't in. Too bad that the conference is not a power in college baseball even though everyone's pretending they are, just because they're the B1G.
The Gophers were eliminated Friday night to Nebraska, 7-4. They managed to beat Illinois twice, which meant they eliminiated the Fighting Illini in this double-elimination format, but got put on notice with Thursday evening's 4-2 loss to regular season and eventual tournament champ Indiana. The Goofs' fate was sealed with that loss to the Cornhuskers, who managed to take one game from Indiana Saturday night in dramatic fashion before falling in dramatic fashion in the game I saw on that raw Sunday afternoon.
Minnesota had no chance of getting into the NCAA Tournament as an at-large, so it was title or bust. The field was announced last (Monday) afternoon and the Big Ten only got two teams in, the Hoosiers and, believe it or not, Illinois, the fifth seed in the tournament and the second team to be bumped off. Guess their non-conference schedule really boosted their RPI. Meanwhile I feel really bad for the 'Huskers. Big Red Nation was the biggest non-local fan base at the ballpark (at least I think) and they rallied on Saturday only to lose in heartbreaking fashion Sunday. They knew in their hearts leaving the tournament that they were squarely on the bubble, and on Monday that bubble popped and sprayed bubble jizz all over their faces.
Congratulations, by the way, to Gopher pitchers Tom Windle and D.J. Snelten for making it to the All-B1G First Team. And good luck to Windle, who continues to be considered a second- or third-round prospect for the Major League Baseball Draft.
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