Could it happen again?

The big difference between 1987 and today is that they had two aces, and we don’t; no one on the 2009 team really really surpasses Les Straker level. But other than that, the two teams are surprisingly competitive. Which is not how I remembered it.

My memory was that 1987 had a few stars, some really solid players, but unlike this year, everyone was decent or better. But that’s not true; their mix of stars and supporting staff was actually pretty similar. They had almost as many black holes as we do.

We decry our infield this year; but in 1987 Steve Lombardozzi batted a very Puntolike .238/.298/.352.

We worry about our bullpen, but the 1987 team did not have one reliever with an ERA better than 3.94 (Berenguer); the closer, Reardon, was the second best, at 4.48. After them, they got 81 innings from George Frazier (4.98), 79 innings from Keith Atherton (4.54), and 43.2 innings from Dan Schatzeder (6.98). No wonder they lost 77 games!

Their fourth starter in innings and ERA, Mike Smithson, had a 6.98 ERA and won four games!

They only had Don Baylor as DH for 20 games — for 110 games, their DH was Roy Smalley!

Their starting catcher batted .191/.252/389. (.191!)

Dan Gladden batted just .249 with an OPS of .673! I remembered him being good!

I’m not saying this to slag on the 1987 team at all. I think they were a deserving champion. Unlike the regular season, the playoffs only require two great pitchers, which they had; and Straker was solid too. Puckett and Hrbek are what championship teams are all about. Gagne and Gaetti were very good. Brunansky hit 32 homers and had an OPS of .841. They were a team that could beat anybody, when one of their aces was pitching.

But my surprising conclusion is this year’s team was not that far away from that level. One ace pitcher would have done it. But other than lacking Frank Viola (2.90 ERA; Bert’s was only 4.01), the mix of stars (Mauer and Morneau vs. Puckett and Hrbek) and solid supporting cast (Span and Kubel and Cuddyer vs. Brunansky and Gaetti and Gagne) aren’t that far apart, really.

The fielding was better in 1987, but our bullpen today is much better.

If Morneau and Slowey and Neshek and Crede were healthy, the Twins would have won this division.

And if Mauer and Morneau went nuts in the playoffs like Puckett and Hrbek did, they’d go down in history as deserving champions.

Okay, I can’t see Baker, Slowey and company shutting down the Yankees or anyone else for a whole series. (But throw in Garza and Bartlett, and you’d really have something! Sigh.)

Still, other than Viola, it’s a pretty fair matchup. With the recent injuries, we fall behind, but before then, they’re not far apart:

C Laudner——-Mauer
1B Hrbek——-Cuddyer (for Morneau)
2B Lombardozzi——-Punto
SS Gagne——-Cabrera
3B Gaetti——-Tolbert (for Crede)
LF Gladden——-Young
CF Puckett——-Span
RF Brunansky——-Kubel (Cuddyer)
DH Baylor——-Harris (for Kubel)
OF Bush——-Gomez
DH Smalley——-Morales
IF Newman——-Casilla
IF Larkin——-Buscher
C Butera——-Redmond

SP Blyleven——-Baker
SP Viola ——-Pavano (for Slowey)
SP Straker——-Blackburn
SP Smithson——-Duensing
SP Niekro——-Liriano?

CL Reardon——-Nathan
RP Berenguer——-Guerrier
RP Frazier——-Mijares
RP Atherton——-Rauch
RP Schatzeder——-Crain

So is their hope for 2009? Even without Morneau?

Suppose Liriano reenters the rotation and starts shutting everyone down…Kubel and Cuddyer stay hot, and Span, Cabrera and Punto keep getting on base, and Mauer stays Mauer….

Nah, I still don’t see them having enough pitching to get past a strong offense for seven games. But if they pick up an ace in the free agent market, and a few young pitchers emerge as studs…maybe next time.

I was 27 when the boys won their first series. Prior to that about the only highlight I remember is Carew being traded to the Angels. 76 to 86 was a pretty bad decade, almost as bad as 93-99. I’m of the opinion that Tom Kelly only had 3 really good years (88, 91 and 92), and oddly, 87 wasn’t one of them (87 and 00 I would call adequate). It was circumstance and the ability to seize an opportunity that made that team great. I guess that’s why I cut Gardenhire a little more slack than most on this board because I have had a reason to be interested in September baseball six of the last eight years, which is a lot better than I ever got from Mauch, Gardener or even Kelly.

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to yell at some kids to get off my lawn and turn that damn noise down.

How bout our new everyday second baseman? coming in hot just in time