Feeling Minnesota: Small-Market Twins Have Big-Time Drama

Sign-stealing accusations involving the golden boy MVP candidate. Teammates publicly hating on each other.  The manager supporting another team hitting one of his own star players. The most-frequently-injured player of the decade suddenly turning into an iron man. All this, and the only pennant race left in baseball this season. Who knew that the Minnesota Twins could be such a hotbed of intrigue?

Yes, the Twins may be a small-market team, but they’ve got some big-market drama going on, even if this soap opera stuff hasn’t hit the national radar that much.

First, there’s their improbable playoff  run. The Twin Cities club is still alive – barely – in the pennant race heading into the last weekend of the season. They’re two games behind the Detroit Tigers with three games left to play. This, despite losing first baseman Justin Morneau, one of their few stars, to injury in mid-September.

After a strong September, and a four-game split with the Tigers this week that left Minnesota still two games back, the Twins play their final regular season series ever in the Metrodome this weekend and face the Royals, while the Tigers face the White Sox in Detroit. Minnesota will have to win all three games, and Detroit would need to lose all three, for the Twins to win the AL Central outright, which is very unlikely.

But the two teams tying – and playing a one-game playoff for the title – is a real possibility, especially given the buzz that will already be in the air at the Metrodome this weekend as the park hosts its last ever – for now, at least, Twins series. The big baggie was the scene of two Minnesota world championships, after all.

The good news for the Twins is that they would host a potential one-game matchup. The bad news is that, thanks to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings facing Green Bay Monday night, that any such playoff game won’t happen that day, so they’d have to play such game on Tuesday, with the playoffs starting Wednesday. Hmmm, maybe Brett Favre put some drama into the Metrodome water supply once he signed with the Vikings.

The Twins, of course, wouldn’t be sniffing the postseason if it weren’t for the  stellar season of catcher Joe Mauer,  who deserves the AL MVP for his .367/.442/.593 season. But Mauer got accused of sign-stealing this week – by one of his team’s own fans.

Baseball fan Tony Faust posted a video entitled “Joe Mauer Stealing Signs (Not Cheating),” which appeared to show the Twins catcher, standing on second against the Tigers Tuesday,  indicating to Minnesota hitter Jason Kubel via hand motions around the earhole of his batting helmet as to what pitches were being thrown.

The funny thing is that the fan compiled and distributed the video evidence in an admiring way – he subtitled it “VP and Batting Champion trying to help his team make the playoffs.”

Mauer denied the allegations in a funny way, too. “It was more of a coincidence than anything,” the catcher said. “I wasn’t relaying any signs at that time.”

Note: he didn’t deny that he stole signs; just that he wasn’t relaying those signs at the time. And Tigers catcher Gerald Laird said about the Twins’ stealing signs, “They’re known for it over there.”

This wasn’t the only controversy in the Twins-Tiger series this week. Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman hit Twins hitter Delmon Young knee with a fastball Thursday, in retaliation for rookie Twins reliever Jose Mijares throwing at Adam Everett of the Tigers.

Young and the entire Twins team were angry at Mijares for provoking the squabble. So angry, in fact, that Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire called Detroit manager Jim Leyland to say that Bonderman “did the right thing” in hitting Young to protect the Tigers!

That’s pretty shocking. But perhaps the most shocking thing in Minneapolis these days is this: Twins’ pitcher Carl Pavano, who was traded from Cleveland this summer, has gone from American Idle to Iron Man.

Yes, the pitcher once known for missing years of work due to a variety of injuries, most notoriously with bruised buttocks, is having a Cal Ripkenesque year on the mound. Pavano has made 32 starts this year – more than he ever did in his four injury-ridden seasons with the Yankees. He also has 13 wins, as many as he did in his four years (and $40M salary) as a Bomber. While he did lose Wednesday’s Twins-Tigers matchup, he also pitched the Twins to victory in four other critical games down the stretch.

If the Twins are still in the playoff hunt on Sunday, Pavano is a real possibility to start the game for Minnesota on three days rest. And thanks to his incentive-laden contract ($1.5 million base salary, and $2.5 million earned so far in incentive clauses), he’ll make an additional $350,000 for the start, and another $250,000 on top of that if he pitches at least 6 1/3 innings.

He told reporters  he was ready to pitch on Sunday:

“I’d be all for it,” Pavano said. “That’s going to be a do-or-die situation, so that’s definitely the time of year you put things on the line.”

Pavano being a critical part of this year’s playoff race, and  actually wanting to be there for his team? That may be the most stunning development of all out of Minnesota this season.

Photo by Ben Adamson

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