Navigating the Emotions of the Twins in the Playoffs

[Hans Birkeland]

Twins fans are going through a lot right now. Let's try to make sense of it all and see if we can keep a level head.

Image courtesy of Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

As the Twins enter the playoff field for the seventh time since the 0-18 streak began, the emotions started coming back for me. Let’s explore them.

1) Unrelenting dread: "Going anywhere near the Twins’ bandwagon is a bitter blend of Lucy pulling the ball back from Charlie Brown, a dash of Bill Buckner, a little hubris, that meme of Michael Scott saying I’m ready to get hurt again, the Timberwolves, and a general aesthetic of being both old-fashioned and a little brother. Imagine a toddler wearing a baseball uniform from 1910 and just getting kicked in the nuts repeatedly. If you’re new to the Twins, that’s kind of where we’re at."

I wrote this last December. If the Twins get swept on Wednesday, the narrative gets reinforced. The differing takes Twins players have offered about the streak will undergo yet another cycle. “This team is different.” “No one on those teams is part of this one.” “We don’t care about it.” “We’re going to win for the fans.” “Slay the dragon.”

If the streak reaches 20 games, what will the next crop of playoff hopefuls even try to say?

Baseball is a romantic sport, and it also has the deepest and oldest brand of statistical analysis. But for a streak that has beaten 69 Billion-to-one odds, the challenge is almost entirely mental. CJ Cron has never missed a catch like that. Jorge Polanco has never made a flip as bad as that. Jason Kubel has never taken an at-bat that bad. The pressure is real, and merciless. The intrusive thoughts play a part.

Sam Darnold, the former Jets quarterback of the future, described (on a hot mic) playing against the rival Patriots as “Seeing ghosts.” That’s what we’re dealing with here. Louie Varland may have all the confidence in the world about the release of his wonderful new cutter, but leading a game 2-1 in the seventh, a thought might go through his head like, “They’re going to crush this pitch.” Whether the pitch is crushed or not is what the Twins are up against. Ask Cody Stashak or Juan Rincon or Joe Nathan how that usually goes.

2) Appeals to logic: The Twins have the third best wRC+ (124) in all of baseball in the second half, when this offense finally gelled. The Blue Jays are 14th best in hitting for the year. The Twins have battered Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios in the recent past. Even against lefties, the Twins’ hitting Achilles heel in the first half, the lineup is well-equipped now. They had a 125 wRC+ against southpaws in the second half, ahead of Atlanta. The pitching staff tied for the AL lead in fewest runs allowed.

But these games aren’t decided on logic, stats, or who stacks up better on paper.

The baseball gods are not concerned.

3) This year is different: The entire zeitgeist of Twins fandom has tried to appeal to this emotion in endless ways. They have pitching this year. They have Royce Lewis this year. They aren’t playing the Yankees. They beat the Yankees in the season series. They aren’t betting underdogs against the Blue Jays. They aren’t injured as in years past.

But we’ve been through this before. The only shred of hope that I have is that the Blue Jays have their own demons to face down. They have lost five consecutive playoff games, which is a lot for a typical franchise. At the start of 2022, their star player, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., declared that the 2021 season, in which the Jays missed the playoffs but contended until the end, was the trailer and 2022 was the movie. He was mocked for that statement, and even more so when Toronto was swept in the AL Wild Card series by the Mariners (another tragically cursed team at the time). They had an 8-1 lead at home in Game 2 of that series, before the Mariners eventually clawed back and tied the game on a bloop double by JP Crawford, causing two of the Jays stars, Bo Bichette and George Springer to collide while all three baserunners trotted home.

It brought to mind the image of Byron Buxton getting picked off as he tried to make an impact as a pinch runner fighting severe concussion symptoms in the last Twins playoff loss.

Perhaps an immovable object meeting an unstoppable force is what needs to happen in order for all this to end.

4) The humiliation: Its hard to hear how the Twins are talked about by outsiders at this point. They have every right to chuckle when discussing the Twins’ chances. “Yeah they stack up well, but its the Twins.” The Twinkies. The Yankees’ little brother. Not worth the playoff spot they take up. It’s easy to tell the world we don’t care because we know what kind of team we have.

But what if we could just be a normal team? Plenty of talking heads will take the Diamondbacks and Marlins, two flawed teams that made the postseason despite themselves, to advance past the Wild Card round.

Some might take the Twins, too. But it's pity. They pick the Twins because they feel bad for Twins fans and on paper they know the Twins have a quality roster. But they know. We know. But what is that?

Is it embarrassment? Is it pure ego? I mean, what do we care what members of the media think about our team?

It’s like one of those horrible 2000’s makeover shows, where getting a nose job and porcelain veneers was considered empowering. Hopefully those contestants knew that looking like a model had nothing to do with their self-worth, but they still went through with everything. They just didn’t want their appearance to be what held them back.

The Twins should know that their team is good. And no one should ever care what Greg Amsinger thinks. But to shove a playoff run down everyone’s throats would be the sweetest victory any Minnesota sports team could ever accomplish.

It’s not rational. Winning one game wouldn’t materially change what the team faces as it navigates October. But wouldn’t it be nice to go from the saddest playoff team in sports history, to what the Twins were before all this madness: scrappy underdogs who play hard and who can never be counted out. It’s one victory away.

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[Patzky]

''All of the above". I'm hoping tostitos and unsweet iced tea guide me though this on my end..

 

 

[Boswell]

It’s Pablo Day folks.  Step aside and let him pitch.  He grew up in Venezuela watching Johan deal from the mound - time for destiny to be fulfilled!

[LastOnePicked]

This team is good, but not great. I like them, but I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see the streak extended to 0-20. Yes, they were a much better second half team. Yes, their second half schedule was much easier.

It comes down to grit at this point. It's where managing, coaching and cohesion matter. However, as 1987 and 1991 taught me, it's also where fan support matters, too. And that's maybe the team's biggest weakness at this point. Die-hard Twins fans are great, but after the humiliating streak, there aren't all that many left. I don't expect a rowdy crowd for this series. And if it's a nailbiter, the players may need a boost.

They're probably expecting us to step up, but many Minnesotans are expecting them to step up first. We'll just have to see how it shakes out.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

On 10/3/2023 at 11:13 AM, Hans Birkeland said:

Twins fans are going through a lot right now. Let's try to make sense of it all and see if we can keep a level head…

But to shove a playoff run down everyone’s throats would be the sweetest victory any Minnesota sports team could ever accomplish.

It seems in hindsight that the imperative to keep a level head was only going to matter if the Twins had gotten knocked out of the first round again.

Hopefully the Twins rally against the Astros. Win or lose, I hope cooler heads prevail in the discussion following.  

[wabene]

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