[ATTACH=CONFIG]1496[/ATTACH]If you're not familiar with the Twins' Official Scorecard, you should be. It's sold at the program stands near the entrances to Target Field, and it's only one buck. How many things can you buy at the ballgame for a dollar? Aside from providing the necessary tools for a scorekeeper to do his/her thing, the scorecard also includes content that changes for each series. Even if I didn't happen to be the guy supplying that content all year, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy each time you make it out to the park. It may be the best value at Target Field.

 

Below you'll find an excerpt from the Twins' side of the next coming scorecard, which will be available during the Athletics series when action resumes after the All-Star break.

 

 

When the Twins have made the playoffs under Ron Gardenhire, it has – without fail – been the result of an excellent second-half. Below you’ll find a comparative list of Minnesota’s annual pre-break and post-break records during Gardy’s tenure. The thing that sticks out is that every playoff team (2002, ‘03, ‘04, ‘06, ‘09, ‘10) was characterized by major second-half improvement. The collective post-break winning percentage of those teams is .623; for non-playoff teams, it’s .433.

 

In order to climb back into contention, this current club will need to play well over .600 over the final months. But then, they’ve made a habit of that.

 

 

[TABLE]

Year

Pre-Break

W%

Post-Break

W%

2011

41-48

.461

22-51

.301

2010

46-42

.523

48-26

.649

2009

45-44

.506

42-32

.568

2008

53-42

.558

35-33

.515

2007

45-43

.511

34-40

.459

2006

47-39

.547

49-27

.645

2005

48-38

.558

35-41

.461

2004

47-40

.540

45-30

.600

2003

44-49

.473

46-23

.667

2002

50-39

.562

44-28

.611

[/TABLE]

The matrix below shows the current standings, what those standings project for wins in 162 games and what the twins pace must be to match that win total. I do not think Chicago is a 90 win team and I believe 85 wins will win the division. The Twins will have to play .636 ball to get there though. Here's to hopin'.

 

[TABLE]

[TD=width: 86][/TD]

[TD=width: 26, bgcolor: #E6E6FF]W[/TD]

[TD=width: 26, bgcolor: #E6E6FF]L[/TD]

[TD=width: 38, bgcolor: #E6E6FF]Pct[/TD]

[TD=width: 41, bgcolor: #E6E6FF]Proj[/TD]

[TD=width: 63, bgcolor: #E6E6FF]Twins pace to match[/TD]

Chicago

47

38

.553

90

.701

Cleveland

44

41

.518

84

.623

Detroit

44

42

.512

83

.610

Kansas City

37

47

.440

71

.455

Minnesota

36

49

.424

69

.429

[/TABLE]