Twins Video
Going into Tuesday’s game, there was one thing and only one thing that anyone talked about: the streak. The dreaded streak. You are fully aware that going into Tuesday’s series opener, the Twins carried a 0-18 playoff losing streak. The Twins’ last playoff win was in 2004. I was in 4th grade. This losing streak was so extreme that it reached mathematically impossible heights: 69 billion to 1. We’re all sick of hearing about it by now.
Fans lamented on social media about the streak. They wrote articles about why this is finally the roster that could break the curse. A few fans even admitted that, in a small way, they wanted to see the Twins lose a 19th game because it would just be so absurd that we would never again see something like it.
The Twins players were fully aware of this losing streak, too, despite very few of them having been a part of those previous losses.
“We’re going to get that first win since 2004, I promise you that,” Kyle Farmer assured the crowd in his postgame interview on the big screen after the Twins clinched their playoff berth at home on September 22.
Game 1 Twins starting pitcher Pablo López arrived at Target Field wearing a Johan Santana jersey, a nod to the drought (but also López's hero growing up). Santana, a fellow Venezuelan, was the starting pitcher in the Twins' last playoff game win in 2004.
On Tuesday, some fans held signs with sentiments like “The Streak Ends Today!” The fans’ desperation and hunger to get that long-desired win shone through constantly during the game. Fans were on their feet for almost every pitch. The stadium echoed with a taunting “Gaus-man! Gaus-man!” whenever the Blue Jays' game one starting pitcher was on the mound. The crowd erupted with the loudest cheering I have ever heard after Royce Lewis’ home runs. It surpassed what one might consider a typical "playoff atmosphere" of noise and emotion. Fans couldn’t be on the field to make the actual plays, but it was evident they were pouring their hearts and souls into helping the players get the job done. They knew this one meant more.
For once in a Twins playoff game, everything seemed to go their way: Michael A. Taylor made superman-like, run-saving catches in the outfield. Lewis had his first multi-homerun game of his career. López pitched a dominant, lights-out performance.
The Twins have higher aspirations than winning a simple, singular playoff game. But words can’t describe how important it is to finally put this 0-18 narrative to bed and for Twins fans to no longer be teased and harassed with “0-18!” from other fanbases or to have the drought inhibit their own personal hopes for the team. Twins fans can exhale a bit, hold their heads up a little higher now, and aim for greater heights.
Indeed, on Tuesday evening, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, one of the country's most prominent MLB writers, proclaimed to SportsCenter's Scott Van Pelt that the "sky is the limit" for the Twins, and that they have the roster needed to make a deep playoff run.
There’s the common saying, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” A journey to a World Series title begins with a single game. It’s true that Tuesday was just one game. But tell that to the fans in Target Field who mobbed each other with hugs in the stands, to the fans who cried and lingered long after the final out to take pictures and hoist drinks at Truly On Deck, or even the guy who (very stupidly) ran onto the field waving a Homer Hanky after the final out before being tackled to the ground by security. This win represented so much more, and you have to start somewhere. Don't let anyone, especially those from other fanbases, diminish your joy.
The next step- the Twins getting their first playoff series win since 2002.
When deciding how to buy Twins playoff tickets, I got the playoff strip because I rationalized that if the Twins made it to the World Series, tickets would cost thousands of dollars, and there would be no way I could go. Even having to buy single-game tickets to the ALCS would be cost-prohibitive. “I know this is rich of me to say, considering we haven’t won a playoff game in 19 years, but..” I told my friends when explaining my rationale for buying the strip.
And now, anything is possible, because finally at long last, the Twins have won a playoff game. They've taken the first step.
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How did you react to the drought-busting playoff win? Do you feel like you have higher hopes for the team now? Let us know in a COMMENT below.
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