Out

October 7th, 2006

When the Minnesota Twins 2006 season came to a close, I was riding shotgun in a hybrid vehicle rolling silently down Interstate 94, about an hour outside the Twin Cities. I missed the first 90 minutes of the radio broadcast; the death rattle of this year’s remarkable team would be unbearable.

It’s tough to hear something you love fall apart.
Of course, I relented and turned on the game. The news was not good: Brad Radke had just dropped a ball. “Someone should have helped him,” WCCO play-by-play announcer John Gordon remarked. This was going to be awful.

The end came with a fly out. Oakland wins, 8-3. My co-worker, who was driving the car back from a work trip to Morris, MN let me sulk in peace. My schedule was suddenly very free. Since May, I’ve attended games about 2-3 times per week. Of the 82 home games this season, I estimate that I saw at least 50. As it turns out, Wednesday was my last visit to the Metrodome this year. My postseason ticket strip is now just a sad, no-cash-value reminder of the pennant and World Series we won’t play in this year.
“We got outplayed,” Torii Hunter said later. “Simple as that. When I saw them jumping up and down it was tough but they deserved it. They outplayed us. I hate it. We hate it. It stunk.”

First, the bad news:

1. The Yankees have not yet been eliminated from the playoffs. I’ve channeled my frustration with the Twins’ post-season performance into a by-the-book hatred of the Yankees. If my guys don’t deserve it, those guys certainly don’t.

2. It’s football season.

Now the good news:

1. The Twins chances next year are excellent. This season’s team was a World Series-caliber team in terms of depth, if not experience. 2007 could be less dramatic, but much more satisfying.

2. I have a lot of time. Perhaps to learn a second language or make some phone calls.

3. I’m glad it was the A’s who ended the Twins season, rather than the Tigers or Yankees. Oakland was my team when I was in junior high, a key developmental stage for baseball fans. Jose Canseco once acknowledged my presence when I called to him from above the visitors dugout at the Metrodome. He was my hero and I was thrilled. Now I know that he turned to catcher Terry Steinbach and said, “That’s a nice little Midwestern fat kid shouting at me. Good people here, Terry. Now then: Who wants me to shoot their ass full of drugs?”
Also, Oakland is the subject of Moneyball, the book that revived the long-dormant baseball fan inside me. It’s one of my favorite books. As they advance to the league championship series, the A’s will carry the torch for small-market, scrappy teams.

4. The Mets are up 1-0 in their series with the Dodgers.

So, today is a new day. Next year holds so much opportunity for Gardenhire & Co. There are great new albums out. There are Netflix queues to maintain. There are family and friends with whom to catch up. And perhaps, there is Fox post-season baseball to be watched.