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The Minnesota Twins have earned a lot of national publicity over the past few years
for "doing it right." They have been lauded for creating competitive teams on a shoestring. Some people call it the "Twins Way." And, this past year, Ron Gardenhire was finally recognized
as Manager of the Year.
You'd think the Twins had written the book on Major League Baseball, and there was
little more to say. If you did it the Twins Way, you did it right. Your team was cohesive. You won more games than the other guys. Every move is the right move.
So what happened this year?
I think the biggest problem has been the Twins Way. I think the team, from the top on
down, began to believe its own press clippings. They were 10 feet tall and bullet proof. They thought they had the magic bottled, and they could take a swig whenever they wanted.
Instead, we've seen a season that has included hundreds of bad choices, some of them
almost shocking considering they were made by the keepers of the Holy Grail. I'll just talk about three.
First of all, the team had this great reliever named Joe Nathan who was coming back
from Tommy John surgery. Most baseball people will tell you that it generally takes a year and a half for a pitcher to get back to form from this radical surgery, which involves moving
body parts around. You'd think the great wisdom of the Twins Way would involve working this guy back in slowly, building his confidence, and not pushing him or his fragile arm too much.
Instead, coming out of spring training where Nathan pitched poorly, they suddenly
anointed him as the closer. The poor guy never had a chance. He pitched the team into several losses, and he pitched himself onto the disabled list. His failure, because so much was
expected, put the whole bullpen, which was shaky from the start, into a tailspin that is ongoing.
Example number two is Joe Mauer. He wasn't ready to play after surgery in the off
season, but it's the Twins Way where you play anyway. (See Joe Nation above.) And it wasn't just that they forced him to finally shut it all down and go back into rehab, but along the way
they have managed to make the most popular player in baseball into a reviled pretender, someone who must be faking his injuries because he isn't tough enough. They even gave Joe a medical
tag, "bilateral leg weakness," that has made him the laughing stock of baseball. Even Mauer said he doesn't know what bilateral leg weakness means.
Do the Twins think that all the attributes that made him the best player in the
American League, including character traits of the highest order, suddenly disappeared? Yet the silence of the Twins management as Mauer has been sharply criticized in recent weeks, is
deafening.
Number three would be the disappearance of Nick Punto. Now I don't know all the
details of the contract situation, but isn't Punto someone you want to keep on your ballclub? He's one of the best infielders in baseball, and a constant performer on the week's baseball
highlights. He hits okay, and many times has had big hits. But mostly, his value was his jagged-edged competitiveness. He was the only player in the majors who could have a dirty uniform
after batting practice.
Instead, because of some hidden clause in the Twins Way, we ended up with Matt
Tolbert. He's a nice guy. Pretty good fielder. Hits about .188. Not a team leader in any way.
It's easy to chalk this season up to injuries, and there have been a boatload of
them. It would have been hard in any case to do much this year when most of your starting lineup is still wearing Rochester Redwings undershirts.
But the potential for a bad first half the season became a dramatic fact with the
asinine decision-making at several levels. Let me suggest just a few new rules for the Twins Way that might help in years to come.
- Don't believe in your own invulnerability. Pride goeth before a fall. Wisdom
comes from humility and common sense.
- Don't make decisions on player usage based on their salary. It's the team's job to sign players, but it's the manager's job to put the best nine players on the field. It should have nothing to do with their income tax bracket.
- Don't allow your best player to be reviled. Stick up for him.
- When you have a good player like Punto, make an effort to keep him. Punto won
several games a year with his glove and several more with his attitude.
The Twins Way has had great success. It has some strong tenets such as good base
running, good pitching, great defense, and developing players in your minor league system. What happened this year?
The Twins, we fear, are a victim of their own success.
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