Torii Hunter led the Minnesota Twins back to the postseason for the first time since 1991. AP
By Dan George, CNNSI.com
Most folks figure if any team is to derail the four-time defending American League champion New York Yankees before the World Series, it’s most likely to be the Anaheim Angels or the Oakland A’s.
The Angels, after all, have the best record of any team against the Yankees (albeit a modest 23-21) since 1998. And the A’s boast baseball’s top 1-2-3 starting combo -- Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson -- not to mention a couple of playoff scores to settle with the Yanks.
So, do the Minnesota Twins have any chance at all of crashing the party?
Well, yes.
OK, the Twins have pretty much gotten to where they are this season -- American League Central champs at 89-66 through Sunday, 10th in the CNNSI.com Power Rankings -- by feasting on the fodder that makes up the rest of the division. They’re 8-16 against the other AL playoff teams, including 3-6 against the A’s and 0-6 against the Yanks.
And despite leading both leagues with a team-record 333 doubles this season, the Minnesota offense hasn’t exactly left opponents making pathetic whimpering noises. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski, at .304, is the lone regular batting over .300. Torii Hunter leads the team in homers (28) and RBIs (91), while Jacque Jones is tops in runs (96).
Overall, they’re ninth in the AL in runs (744) and runs batted in (708), tied for eighth in home runs (161). They’ve especially had difficulty with left-handers, of which the other playoff teams employ more than a few.
But the Twins’ pitching and defense has more than compensated for any offensive shortcomings.
Minnesota raced away from the AL Central pack even as starters Brad Radke and Joe Mays were out with injuries; now both are back. Rick Reed is 9-2 with a 2.68 ERA in the second half. And the bullpen, anchored by setup man-turned-closer Eddie Guardardo (43 saves, 2.92) and lefty J.C. Romero (8-2, 1.96), boasts a 3.67 ERA, tied for fourth with the A’s.
And nobody throws leather at you like the Twins, a classic strong-up-the-middle team. Opponents have stolen a major league-low 55 bases against them this year, second sacker Luis Rivas and shortstop Cristian Guzman are as solid a young middle infield tandem as you could want, and anyone who saw the All-Star Game knows all about Hunter in center field. All in all, Minnesota’s 73 errors are the fewest of any major league team.
But the most intriguing thing about the Twins? They appear to be on a mission to spite commissioner Bud Selig for his offseason effort (admittedly, with the blessing of Twins owner Carl Pohlad) to contract them. If Selig had had his way, these guys, not to mention the Montreal Expos, would have been deader than somebody making a pass at Carmela Soprano. But the Twins are survivors.
"It started this winter, when they tried to kick us out of the game and take the team from the fans and the state of Minnesota," said manager Ron Gardenhire. "There’s a lot building up here."
When the Twins clinched last week, Guardardo, an eight-year veteran, broke into tears. Jones was more defiant than sentimental, shouting amid a celebrating clubhouse, "Bud Selig tried to get rid of us, and he couldn’t do it. And the White Sox couldn’t get rid of us. And Cleveland couldn’t get rid of us. And now we’re here."
Yes, they are.
And now on to the final Power Rankings of 2002 ...
CNNSI.com's Power Rankings
Rank
LW
Team
1
4
Oakland Athletics Even if Miguel Tejada doesn’t win the MVP this season, it probably won’t be the last time his name is linked with the award. Not only has the 26-year-old shortstop hit 30 homers and knocked in 110 runs for three straight years, but he’s also not missed a game since May 31, 2000. Amazing.
2
3
New York Yankees Yes, they’re in but this is nonetheless a big week for the pinstripers. They’ll find out just how ready, after more than a month on the DL with a cranky shoulder, Mariano Rivera is for the playoffs. Joe Torre plans to pitch the closer on back-to-back days this week.
3
1
Atlanta Braves OK, maybe his postseason record leaves, uh, something to be desired. But isn’t it a bit surprising that after 11 straight division titles, Bobby Cox still has just one NL Manager of the Year award? And that happened way back in 1991.
4
2
Anaheim Angels Minnie Mouse will show up in Hustler before David Eckstein wins the AL MVP, but you have like Mike Scioscia campaigning for the Angels’ sparkplug. Sciosia, by the way, has a good shot at AL managerial honors.
5
5
Arizona Diamondbacks How about Greg Colbrunn getting a triple -- just his 11th in 2,671 career at-bats -- to complete his cycle last week? Said Colbrunn: "I was running. It was going to be like Little League, keep running until I got to third."
6
7
St. Louis Cardinals Illinois? Missouri? One place or the other, it looks like the Cards’ new ballpark is a go. Facing pressure from a competing bid across the Mississippi River, St. Louis has made a new offer for a privately financed downtown park. It would be just the second such facility in the majors since Dodger Stadium in 1962.
7
8
San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds has led the league in home runs and RBIs. Now, taking a .370 average into the season’s final week, the 38-year-old slugger is about to become the oldest player to win a batting title for the first time. Way to go, Gramps.
8
9
Seattle Mariners They’re the only team in the American League without a walk-off home run this season. But they have three walk-off walks -- as many as the other 29 teams combined.
9
10
Boston Red Sox Good: Pedro Martinez appears healthy. Bad: He says he may go elsewhere if the Sox don’t give him a new multiyear deal pronto. "I would love to finish my career in Boston," he said, "but are you going to stay with a woman who isn't going to love you forever and lets you know it?" Uh, how well does she cook?
10
6
Minnesota Twins Looking for omens? Closer Eddie Guardado recently broke the club saves record shared by Jeff Reardon and Rick Aguilera. Reardon was the closer on the Twins team that won the1987 World Series. Aguilera had the job for the '91 champs. Cue Twilight Zone music.
11
11
Los Angeles Dodgers Don’t you wonder sometimes if Jesse Orosco just hangs around so he can be the answer to trivia questions? The 45-year-old lefty has given up two home runs to Barry Bonds -- one in 1988 and one last week. He also gave up a homer to Barry’s father, Bobby.
12
12
Houston Astros Brad Ausmus tied an NL record set by Ernie Lombardi of the Reds in 1938 when he grounded into his 30th double play of the season. Jim Rice set the major league record with 36 DPs for the Red Sox in 1984.
13
13
Chicago White Sox How’s this for a bargain? Mark Buehrle -- the anti-Mike Hampton -- has won 35 games over the past two years for a combined salary of $535,000. He’s got one more start to become the Sox’s first 20-game winner in nine years.
14
14
Montreal Expos Bartolo Colon, 10-3 with a 3.13 ERA since coming over from the Indians, has done everything the Expos hoped. Too bad the rest of the team hasn’t followed suit. A solid 41-36 before the June 27 trade, Montreal is just 38-41 since.
Florida Marlins Luis Castillo (35) and OF Kevin Millar (25) are only the second set of teammates since 1940 with hitting streaks of 25 games or more in the same season. The others were Shawn Green (28) and Shannon Stewart (26) with Toronto in 1999.
17
16
Cincinnati Reds Talk about going out with a fizzle. The Reds made five errors and walked 10 batters last week in an 11-3 loss to the Pirates that officially eliminated them from playoff contention.
18
18
New York Mets You have to think last week’s marijuana fiasco was the last straw for owner Fred Wilpon. The way manager Bobby Valentin and GM Steve Phillips handled the whole thing virtually assured that at least one of them will be gone before next season.
19
20
Colorado Rockies Mike Hampton is out for the season with a strained ligament in his foot. That would be bad news -- if his 6.15 ERA weren’t the highest in the majors among pitchers eligible for the ERA title. He’s 21-28, 5.75 since signing his eight-year, $121 million deal before last season.
20
21
Toronto Blue Jays Don’t tell Esteban Loaiza that that Tampa Bay is the worst team in the majors. After losing to the Devil Rays last week, Loaiza is 0-5 with a 16.58 ERA against them this season.
21
23
Cleveland Indians One reason the rebuilding may not take as long as expected: Three of their top pitching prospects, Billy Traber, Brian Tallet and Cliff Lee -- all lefties -- were a combined 41-14 at Class AA and AAA this season.
22
19
Texas Rangers Could this be the final week of All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez's career in Arlington? Rodriguez, 31, says he wants to come back -- but it doesn’t seem likely given owner Tom Hicks’ vow to get under next year’s $117 million payroll tax threshold.
23
24
Pittsburgh Pirates Jason Kendall in center field? Rumors persist that it could happen next season to make room for minor leaguer catcher Humberto Cota, but GM Dave Littlefield insists the 28-year-old Kendall is staying put behind the plate.
24
22
Baltimore Orioles Mike Bordick’s major league-record errorless streak is at 104 and counting. The 37-year-old shortstop hasn't booted a ball since April 10 -- his only error of the year.
25
26
San Diego Padres Eugene Kingsale has been cut by both the Orioles and Mariners in the past year. But Bruce Bochy says the 26-year-old center fielder, who’s hit .295 with nine stolen bases in 207 at-bats, could be the Padres' leadoff hitter next season.
26
25
Chicago Cubs They have a chance to be the first team since the 1884 Boston Reds of the Union Association to lead the majors in strikeouts both at the plate and on the mound. Hey, all they want is a chance!
27
27
Kansas City Royals Gee, this must be awkward. The Class A Spokane Indians of the Northwest League, which is owned by Royals VP George Brett and his brother Bobby, is parting ways with the parent club. The Indians, 22-54 and 29-47 the past two years, says they want better players. Gee, so do the Royals.
28
29
Milwaukee Brewers Jose Hernandez sat out the last four games at Miller Park so he wouldn’t set a major league strikeout record in front of the home crowd. Hernandez was livid Wednesday when fans cheered after he fanned twice. No word on his reaction when they showed up Friday with those little "K" signs.
29
28
Detroit Tigers First baseman Dmitri Young’s tenure in Detroit could be brief. Injured most of this season, Young says he’s not interested in moving to third. But rookie Carlos Pena, who had a 12-game hitting streak snapped Sunday, looks like the Tigers’ future on the right side.
30
30
Tampa Bay Devil Rays Infielder Russ Johnson has one solution for the team’s losing ways: Drop the Devil from their nickname. "There ain't no doubt in my mind it'd help," says Johnson, who contends his faith has helped him overcome personal problems. "It sure can't hurt. That's for sure."
