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I have no doubt the twins will make it, especially with the way the White Sox have been playing. I don't think they'll make it past the Rays, however.
With a lot of the playoff situation settled, I'm keeping my eye on the AL Central and will unabashedly pull for the Twins to win that division (again). I have thought for a long time now that Gardenhire is among the more underrated managers in baseball -- no matter who that club loses, Gardy's guys play their asses off and win. Having lost Hunter and Santana last winter, it would somehow be sweet to see the Twins win their division and have another shot to get themselves and Gardenhire into the World Series.
I have no doubt the twins will make it, especially with the way the White Sox have been playing. I don't think they'll make it past the Rays, however.
Is there a game to be made up? Cause I see a half a game difference.
there was a rained out tigers/chisox game. originally, they were just going to cancel it and not make it up. however, if it is deemed necessary (if twins lead by one in the win column, or chicago leads by one in the loss column), then that game must be made up. if thats the case, tigers and chisox will play on Monday. after that, if chisox and twins are tied, there is one-game playoff between them on Tuesday.
I actually prefer to see the White Sox in the playoffs, but I picked the Twins to win the division. I think the Sox have played themselves out of the postseason. Whenever you only need to win ONE stinking game in a three game series, and can't manufacture a win, you don't deserve to make it.
How awesome.
I've always thought the Twins win in spite of Gardenheier. He makes some decisions that are real head scratchers regarding his pitchers and line-ups, but they are a scrappy bunch that pulls out wins just the same.
I suppose that I mean that Gardenhire is great at getting the most out of his team year-in, year-out. No matter what happens with his roster (and they've taken some hits through the years) he finds ways for his teams to stay compe ive and those guys play their tails off for him. It's not as if they're without talent, but hamstring many managers by taking away guys like Santana, and their teams won't do anything; Gardenhire's teams somehow always seem to be right there.
You're right that he can sometimes make some curious tactical calls, but I'm not sure that detracts as much from my evaluation. Gardenhire doesn't have the margin for error that a Francona, Torre, Scioscia, Piniella, or a few others have, yet he wins at relatively similar clips and has done so for a long time now.
yeah, he certainly gets those guys to play hard and play the right way - and that's worth more than i am giving credit for.
he's the anti-sabermetrician. he makes a lot of decisions that should (and do) fail from a statistical standpoint. but the guys tend to rally around him and find another way to win just the same.
I'd love to see Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett stick it to their former team.
I have to respectfully disagree.
Gardenheier IMO is maybe dollar for dollar the best manager in the game.
Better than Torre and La Russa and Francona and all of em.
It is interesting that if the Twins get in and advance, their route might take them through the other teams involved in each of their major transactions from last off-season: Rays (Bartlett & Garza), Angels (Hunter), and Mets (Santana). Not saying either that the Twins will advance or that LAA and NYM will, but the possibility would exist.
Minnesota Twins Delenda Est!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carthago_delenda_est
2 out of 3 maybe?
Guess not . . . .
Twins outchoked the white sox.
I don't know what to make of the AL Central.
At the beginning of the season, the Central should have been one of the strongest divisions in MLB. Instead, we have the Tigers finishing dead last, and the Indians finishing 7.5 games out of first place.
Ironically, I think Cleveland wins the AL Central if they had kept Sabathia for the rest of the season.
Gardenhire should get the axe!
He's the Flip Saunders of MLB in that his teams can't win the big games.
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