Pain and Sadness Welcomed Like Old Friends in Twins Territory

The Minnesota Twins have lost eight of their last 10. They are without 40% of their starting rotation for the rest of the regular season, their bullpen is stretched perilously thin, and every position player your kid likes is hurt. Even Royce Lewis is slumping struggling. The team’s self-enforced payroll restrictions and the failure of almost all the marginal offseason acquisitions to land make this swoon even more painful.

Yet, for some Twins fans, this nauseating stretch of play provides a certain sense of…well, calm isn’t the right word. Or is it?

“There’s just something about watching the Twins go up against a good team and lose in the most disheartening fashion,” said Ryan Revier, 41, of Monticello. “They’re not getting clobbered, they’re blowing leads in the late innings. They’re not getting no-hit, they’re loading the bases and not scoring. That’s what me and my friends grew up watching.

“We don’t see each other that much anymore, but being able to text the group chat about how you want to throw up when (Twins third base coach) Tommy Watkins sends a runner home? And everyone chimes in about (former Twins third base coach) Scotty Ullger sending Jason Kubel to his doom? Those are memories you can’t replace, man.”

“My grandparents had season tickets and would take us to a bunch of games,” said Pam Longstreth, 54, of Woodbury. “That was back in the ‘80s, before the World Series, when we had Ron Davis. He’d blow a game, we’d drive home from the Metrodome, and Grandpa Earl would go sit in the garage and stare at nothing. No beer, no cigarette, no transistor radio, didn’t even have a light on. Just staring. I did that after the last Steven Okert game. Grandpa’s been gone 25 years this November, but it felt like he was right there.”

While all the fans we spoke with said they’d prefer it if the team turned things around in a hurry, there was a definite sense of connection with past generations.

“You know how the Timberwolves made that great playoff run this spring and no one around here really knew how to act,” said James Bates, 49, of Nevis. “We were all kind of floaty and out of sorts. When a Minnesota team is playing really well, then starts losing in the most agonizing, frustrating way possible, that grounds us. Our birthright is suffering. My stomach hurts all the time now, just like my dad’s did. Not a stabbing pain, just an ache that never goes away. There you are, old friend. There you are.”

The Twins return to action against the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend. It is expected that someone new will be hurt before Friday’s first pitch.

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