FanPost

Do We Need to Win the Central?

I know there are still many games left, but you have to start looking ahead at some point. After checking out the Twins win today, I hopped over to ESPN's Hunt for October and was reminded that if the race ended today, the Tigers would face the A's and the Twins would for the third time in the last 4 years, face the New York Yankees. If the Twins win the Central they will play the As as the Wild Card team is likley to come from the Central Division. Both Boston and the Angels are 7 games behind us.

Let me remind you of the results of those previous meetings...

2002 - Twins win games 1,4,5 defeat Oakland and Joe Morgan announces "It's just goes to show the best team doesn't always win." Twins go on to win the first game against that year's champion, the Angels, and the bullpen collapses after game 1, Angels Win Series 4-1.

2003 - Twins win game 1 in NY, LaTroy Hawkins and rest of bullpen implode in game 4 and New York Wins Series 3-1.

2004 - Twins win game 1 in NY, Juan Rincon allows 3-run HR to tie game 4 and New York Wins Series 3-1.

I know the Twins have beaten the Yankees in the regular season at times (IIRC in 03 and 04 at the end of the season Gardy allowed his team to lose the series to rest his players making me charge him with momentum killing) but even for the players who weren't there like Bartlett that kind of thing has got to be in the back of your mind.

So, cut to the present day, once again the Twins have lost the series in New York though this time they don't have Radke. But in his two appearances against them, Scott Baker has owned the Yankees. And the team did do better against them in 2004 than in 2003, nearly winning game 2 and game 4. So it's possible that they could win and this team does have an experienced Mauer and Morneau. It has a couple of good relievers in Reyes and Neshek, it's got a solid reliever in Rincon and Nathan remains a lights-out closer blowing 2 saves this year of which the Twins won 1 game in extra innings. And a short series may very well favor us over the Yankees as opposed to a long one. But a part of me desperately hopes they Twins win the Central so they don't have to take on the Yankees right away.