Hello, fellow humans! My name is William Malone IV. Son of William Malone III. And I come with great news! The Minnesota Twins will be back to playing baseball games tomorrow after having today off. It might not be a regular season game, but at least we're getting closer.

And when that regular season does begin, the Twins will embark on yet another quest to win the American League Central. To date, they have won the AL Central nine times. The first occurrence was in 2002, and the most recent was in 2023. Many of these division races have been epic! Who could forget the elation of winning Game 163 in 2009? Or the crushing agony of losing Game 163 just a year earlier? Another epic divisional chase came in 2006, when Minnesota edged out the Detroit Tigers on the final day of the regular season.

There was never any threat of a 163rd game, so that took a little juice out of it. Regardless of who won the division, both clubs were going to the playoffs with the lone AL Wild Card spot secure for the Central's runner-up. Back then, tiebreaker games only occurred when it was a matter of making or missing the postseason. But regardless, winning your division is still quite fun. And this race with Detroit came down to the very end.

Game 159 vs Kansas City
Minnesota woke up that morning a full game behind the Tigers. Detroit was hosting a very good Toronto Blue Jays club. They had the American League's sixth best record, but this was a postseason format where only four teams from each league would advance to October. There was no way Toronto could catch the Twins or Tigers, so they were just playing for pride at that point. Playing for pride worked, and the Blue Jays won their getaway day game 8-6. This meant Minnesota was only half a game back by first pitch.

Ron Gardenhire turned to ole reliable for one final time. This was the final regular season start Brad Radke ever made, and he tossed a gem; five innings, three hits, and only one (unearned) run. Despite his best efforts, Radke came away with a no decision because the bats were going down quietly. Minnesota was still down 1-0 heading into the ninth inning.

Nick Punto made the first out. Jason Kubel made the second out while pinch hitting for Alexi Casilla. Just when you think all is lost, up strolls Joe Mauer. I mean, who else would you rather have up? Mauer was a career .330 hitter in his career when the Twins were down to their final out. This includes three game tying or go-ahead homers in those situations. This was one of those three homers. Tie game! Extra innings! Jason Bartlett walks it off in the tenth, and the AL Central race is all tied up.

Game 160 vs Chicago (AL)
Once again, the Twins bats were going down without much of a fight. Minnesota found themselves down 3-0 through six innings, before Michael Cuddyer finally got things going with an RBI single. Past pal A.J. Pierzynski got the run right back with an RBI single of his own, and the Twins were down 4-1 heading into the ninth. Rally time!

Nick Punto led off the ninth with a single against Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks, and then stole second base. Luis Rodriguez scratched out a nine pitch walk, and Joe Mauer came up as the tying run. Sadly, he could not match his heroics from the night before. The soon-to-be batting champion struck out on three pitches, but Cuddyer picked him up with a two run double. Justin Morneau struck out, Torii Hunter beat out an infield single, and then Lew Ford drew a walk. It was all up to veteran Phil Nevin, who struck out on three pitches.

Sad, for sure. But the Royals made sure the AL Central stayed all even. They came back from 5-0 down to stun the Tigers. A 22-year old Zack Greinke tossed three shutout innings out of the bullpen, earning his only win of the 2006 season.

Game 161 vs Chicago (AL)
It's kind of like Groundhog Day with this Twins offense down the stretch. They were once again incapable of doing anything early on. Matt Garza getting hit around pretty hard didn't help matters that much. They were down 6-0 heading into the ninth, but the bats woke up late once again.

Bobby Jenks was unavailable after needing 32 pitches to close out the last game. It was also a day game after a night game, so he didn't even have a full 24 hours to recover from it. With Ozzie Guillien looking elsewhere for those final three outs, Nick Punto reaches on an error and Mike Redmond gets himself a single. Michael Cuddyer launched a three run homer, and suddenly it's 6-3. That rally would eventually fall short. Six runs was too big a mountain to climb.

Shout-out to the 100 loss Royals though. After mounting an epic five run comeback the night before, they scored seven in the first inning against stud Tigers prospect Andrew Miller. Yes, that Andrew Miller. He never really got things going for Detroit. Or for the Marlins after he was a key piece of the Miguel Cabrera trade. But watch out for him ten years later when he's winning ALCS MVP for the Cleveland Indians.

Game 162 vs Chicago (AL)
So it's all tied up heading into the regular season finale. Detroit has the tiebreaker, so Minnesota needs a win and a Tigers loss. No way the 100 loss Royals will sweep them? Right? Regardless, they still need to take care of their own business.

Down 1-0, Joe Mauer led off the fourth inning with a double. Soon-to-be MVP Justin Morneau tied the game with a double of his own, and then Torii Hunter hit a two run homer. That was all the scoring they'd need, but Michael Cuddyer and Jason Bartlett added RBI singles of their own for good measure. It was a fairly easy 5-1 victory for the good guys.

In another part of the world, the evil Detroit Tigers were up 6-0 on the last place Kansas City Royals. Detroit had already blown a 5-0 lead in this series. Seems unlikely that they'd find a way to blow an even bigger lead. You might be thinking that the Tigers don't really care. They're going to the playoffs either way. But no, they really wanted to win the AL Central. Kenny Rogers, a starting pitcher who finished fifth place in the AL Cy Young voting that season, was used out of the bullpen in an attempt to nail this down. They burned their projected game one playoff starter in an effort to secure home field advantage in the ALDS. And he blew it! Kansas City won, giving Minnesota the division.

Aftermath
The Twins got swept by Oakland in the ALDS and the Tigers went to the World Series, where they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in five games. Detriot's playoff run didn't come without some controversy though. Kenny Rogers, who had his next start pushed back to game three of the ALDS after his game 162 usage, dominated the Yankees in that game three start. He was also masterful in the ALCS, and threw a two hitter in the Tigers lone World Series win. But there was a thick brown sludge all over that guy's pitching hand throughout the postseason. It was clear as day. Opponents were publicly complaining about it, but the league just kind of sat around and let it happen. To this day, Yankee fans will insist they had that World Series in the bag had Rogers not cheated.