Jack C

Just the last couple of decisions? Rocco is Rocco and there is no way Twins will ever streak because it isn't in his DNA. Important baseball is all about understanding and motivating players. He's an analytics guy who is severely limited when it comes to getting guys to play up. I'm not saying we're dysfunctional like the Sox. I am saying you can tell a team that is champing at the bit to play. They have an edge to them. That either starts at the top down which is why great managers find success time after time (Billy Martin probably didn't understand analytics...) or they are built around a player or players who inspire and demand the best from those in the dugout. Which came first? Chicken or the egg? Do teams get animated when good things happen? Or do good things happen when somebody demands they do? I believe it's both. And the latter is largely absent in the Baldelli era. He's a product of a generation of baseball people enamored with numbers; we have a number of Twins Daily members who like to run that track as well. I believe understanding percentages is important but takes a backseat to motivating human beings. This Twins team had the potential with that surprising starting staff to win 95.

You bet. They should be 20% of a leadership process. Baldelli is reversed.

Just for purposes of stirring the pot, I think the article's nom de plume is appropriate. So #NeverSeenATwinsPlayoff Win, maybe the reason you haven't is because the Twins are the poster boys for Analytics. In my case, I'm really old and having lived in a handful of cities over my life have been fortunate to see a number of home teams win and go deep. The common denominator was chemistry and momentum. Period. I ask: can changing chemistry change numbers? Of course they can! Otherwise, why bother watching? We can pretty much predict outcomes before the first pitch is even thrown. I ask, how did those analytics set you up for all that Sox success? That stuff cuts both ways.

This is all just crazy and driven by guys who tried to understand baseball rather than play it an a high level. Analytics completely ignore the human element of sports. Have you ever said: "He's hot." "He's in a slump". "That guy is clutch." Analytics give us raw numbers, despite the attempt to put some context on the numbers by breaking them down into more and more complex subsets. They are one piece of information. All you have to do is look into a dugout and watch human emotions like momentum, anger, excitement and human desire ramp up when the line keeps moving. Compare what happens in a dugout when a team scores 3 by batting around with a 3 run homer capped by a Correa double play. Same value on the score sheet. Complete difference in the dugout. It isn't your own stats. It's picking up and inspiring teammates, not just your own result at the plate. A great at bat might be a 12 pitch K if you need to get your pitcher a breather. A great at bat might chew up the opposing team's pitch count when you want a guy off the rubber. In other sports, it's the point guard's job to make everybody better. We here that about QBs as a litmus test. Used to be that was often your lead off guy. The guy who stirred the drink. In the days of modern Twins, none of that matters. Guys are seen as interchangeable. They hit wherever they hit. They play wherever they play. After all, they're all professionals and "we have confidence in our guys". Numbers don't lie. And that, in a nutshell, is how you take a team with this much talent and guarantee a .500 record, +/- 5. Pretty simple. If it's all on the line and your best player doesn't hit lefties as well (numbers, people!) as another guy on the bench, do you pinch hit him? Baldelli is the guy who could come up with a set of numbers that would pinch hit Gallo over Puckett. In his world, the confidence to read the tea leaves, to look a guy in the eye and decide he'll succeed or fail is generated by numbers alone. Any of those leadership qualities that require understanding human nature, motivation or thinking outside the 9 dots are completely missing (or deliberately subjugated) from his DNA. When the time comes (okay this is a joke) where the home 9 needed the win to advance, which are you going to say? -Baldelli carried the team on his back -Jeffers carried the team on his back -Arraez carried the team on his back There are plenty of guys in the HOF who arrived there because of when and how they delivered, not because of pure numbers. Case in point...the GOAT of catchers is Yogi. Bet Baldy (and our esteemed writer) could come up with some analytics to plug in Jeffers instead.

Here's where analytics fail. 1. They fail to acknowledge any kind of human element in athletic performance. That's ridiculous. 2. It cannot fail to deflate any player when he is lifted because his manager says he trusts analytics more than the player. 3. When discussing pitching, every pitcher has periodic tough outings. Some nights control just isn't as sharp as other nights. The more pitchers you run out there, the greater the chance one of them is going to have "that bad outing". If you're talking about 3rd time through an order kind of deterioration, then why are you so concerned a reliever only faces 3 or 4 hitters?