Monday (Framing a season) edition: Wha’ Happened?
Posted on September 29th, 2008 – 9:04 AMBy Michael Rand
It all depends on how you look at things. Is he levitating? Is he falling? Is he tricking us and being held up by some piece of wire that has been eliminated from the final edit of the picture?
Sports are about what is accomplished; they are also about how you frame that accomplishment. And that leads us to some questions about the Twins. How do you view their season-to-date? Is it the levitation, the 88 wins and all sorts of pleasant surprises that led to vast over-achievement in an overall sense? Do you look at the picture another way and decide that in spite of the great turnaround, and with the exception of three spine-tingling wins last week against the White Sox, their sub-par play in the past 30-35 games cannot be overlooked because the squad had proven the stakes were changed with its earlier play? Are you ecstatic that, worst-case scenario, they’ll be in a one-game playoff during a season that many predicted fourth place, or can you not get past the feeling that they could have made this a lot easier with even average play down the stretch?
What do you focus on? The 9 home runs or the batting title? The 129 RBI or the late-season slump? The development of the young pitchers or the way many of them faltered in September? Levitating, falling or suspended?
And isn’t if funny how your answers could change wildly depending on whether another team loses one of its next two games.
But is that fair?
Fasola-link! Pro rasslin’ in Alabama.
24 Responses to "Monday (Framing a season) edition: Wha’ Happened?"
If the Twins don’t win the division, you can point right to Bill Smith and call him a complete idiot for not getting bullpen help after Neshek went down. This team is succeeding this year in spite of Smith. None of his signings have helped the team. The argument can be made that the team would have been better with Garza, Bartlett and Santana instead of Gomez, Young, Harris and Humber.
Also, to all of the idiots who say that losses in April and May don’t matter, look at this season. Are you telling me that you wouldn’t like to have seen the team get one more win against Seattle, Oaklan or KC?
Anyway, let’s go Tigers.
FIRE CHILDRESS!!0NE!!11!1!
So says the AV.
I have to say that I am enthusiastic in how they have rebounded from last year, especially after losing Santana and Hunter. Santana on this team right now makes us a team that probably wins 95 games and walks away from the division.
That being said, I have to temper my enthusiam due to the late season fade. If they make the playoffs, all is forgiven, but if not you have to look at it as a big opportunity missed in a year where the division was up for grabs which most likely will not be so easily won next year.
I’m feeling optimistic today, so we’ll go with levitation on all the answers here.
I was certain in April that the Twins would have to fight very hard to get to .500. They exceeded my expectations.
I’ll take a catcher with multiple batting titles but a lack of power any day. It’s easy to expect everything from Mauer- hitting for average, hitting for power, good game calling and defensive skills behind the plate. I don’t think people should jump all over him for not living up to ONE of those expectations. Now if he could work on those GIDP numbers….
Morneau played every game this season. He’s the team MVP, and put up solid numbers in spite of the slump. The “frame” goes for the whole season- not just the last month.
The young pitchers showed a lot of talent and are still pretty young. I think it’s fair to say that the expectations for next season have been raised. If they can keep this young core on the team and healthy, we have the makings of a dominant staff shaping up for the opening of Target Field.
Does anyone know if the Sox/Tigers game is on TV today?
Hootie - ESPN2, I believe.
ESPN2, Hootie
Thanks. I think I might start feeling nauseous shortly after lunch today…
Either way, 2008 turned out to be an opportunity for the Twins. The White Sox are deeply flawed. Cleveland gave up early, when they easily could have pushed for a division title. Detroit built a good fantasy baseball team that turned out to be a horrible baseball team. And Kansas City ended up in the 23rd year of their five-year rebuilding plan.
It all fell into place for the Twins, despite their youth, despite a GM who blew pretty much every decision this year, despite a bullpen that was an unmitigated disaster from about August 1 on.
Frankly, the Twins are not in position to be wasting opportunities like this. Chances at the division title, regardless of what the last seven years tell us, don’t come around every year. Minnesota can’t pull a Chicago or Detroit and just out-spend everyone to rebuild next year.
And so if they win Tuesday, it’ll be a successful year; if they fail Tuesday, it’ll be a wasted opportunity. Forget preseason expectations - there’s no middle ground here.
INVISABUL WOMANS
AZGopherGirl: You get a brief respite on the economy and my unicorn. First you have to work your mojo on getting Detroit to win the game today.
Put me in the pleasant surprise category. However it could have been even better if any of the FA signings would have worked out…Lamb? Everett? Hernandez? Come on.
Good news:
- The Twins are only a few pieces away from having a very good team next year.
- The Twins are young enough to be very good for a number of seasons.
Bad news:
- Bill Smith has given us no reason to believe he is capable of finding those few pieces. The best in-house candidates are a few years away.
- The AL Central will not be this weak for a number of seasons.
Is the glass 1/2 full or 1/2 empty…tuf question, grasshoppa
You can’t put the blame squarly on Smith if they don’t reach the playoffs. He did bring in Breslow mid-season, and signed Nathan to an extension at the begining of the year. Granted if they had kept Santana this year for one final playoff run they would have wrapped up the division last week. But I like were what we have for the future and the opening of Target Field. The pitching staff reminds me a little of the ‘91 Braves, and ewe all know what kind of run they put together.
Fact: By playing .500 ball over the last 30 games the Twins could have run away with the division title. Fact: No midseason moves were made to address an imploding bullpen. Fact: No amount of hit-and-runs and stolen bases can compensate for the team’s lack of power at third base.
But instead of examining the Twins failures we view them as victims of circumstance. They are the Rebellion fighting the Evil Empire. Small Market. Piranhas. Get To Know Em’. Gritty. Small Ball. Playing the game the Right Way.
We’ve all been brainwashed by the Twins marketing machine, hence the yearly free pass.
All that said, who knew this last week would matter much less bring so much drama? Consider me the biggest Tigers fan since Thomas Magnum.
Smith failed at getting bullpen help, but his offseason work was, well, something. Look at what he was forced to part with: Hunter, Santana, (ahem) Silva.
Santana playing here this year is a pipe dream, and Smith would have failed worse if we kept him and lost him next year to get nothing in return.
I look at it in the context of, can this team do anything when they get to the playoffs? I don’t think so. If I am going to expect a team to get to the playoffs, I expect that they can go all the way. So, by virtue of that framing, I will still be happy they made September relevant again.
My fear is they fall the way of Cleveland, Arizona, & Colordao… and have amazing young teams do well and fizzle the next year.
Also, I saw a vehicle today in St. Paul that had a Badger sticker and A gopher sticker, plus a Circle sticker with the word PUG. Does anyone know this person? I was a little confused.
I don’t think anyone is blaming Smith for the Santana trade, but rather his choice to spend his free agency dollars on Livan, Monroe, Everett and Lamb. Most everyone who looked at the alternatives knew these moves were dumb. And signing Breslow doesn’t come close to making up for them.
Here’s to a better sophomore year from Billy. Can’t get much worse.
Also, I saw a vehicle today in St. Paul that had a Badger sticker and A gopher sticker, plus a Circle sticker with the word PUG. Does anyone know this person?
Stensation?
I didn’t mean to imply that fans were blaming Smith for the Santana trade, I meant they blame him for all the other moves you mentioned.
I think that the Livan signing work well for the first few months, if nothing else it just gave us a fifth starter while Liriano got back in form in the minors. I am not sure but didn’t the bullpen start to look worse after Livan was let go? Could it have been a combination of lack of innings from the starters and the lose of Neshek?
That should read loss not lose, sorry long weekend.
Jon is exactly right. In baseball, second place in the division is the same as finishing last. There are no moral victories, no “surprising season”s, no “atta kid”s. Nothing but a waste of a good chance, and this team will have wasted a prime opportunity if they don’t make it, and you can look directly to the pen and Bill Smith to find the source of the problem.
My travel plans to Chicago are set, pending a Detroit loss and my boss’ approval.
Anybody know what happens if today’s game is completely rained out? White Sox double header against the Tigers and Twins (if necessary)? Sox forced to play split squad games? All games pushed back a day?
