Twins prepare for playoffs
Jim Souhan
Star Tribune
Published Sep 29, 2002 TMOM29
Since the Twins clinched the American League Central title on Sept. 15, they have partied, slumped, rested, limped, winced, convalesced and pondered the question: "What do meaningless games mean?"
At times, they have treated their late-September games like spring training contests. After that approach yielded three ugly losses in Chicago over the previous weekend, manager Ron Gardenhire held a team meeting Tuesday, asking his players to play harder in the season's last week. Thursday, following a 12-inning game on Wednesday, he pulled all but one starter by the sixth inning.
Dealing with post-clinching games, in which winning means little but losing remains bothersome, has provided the Twins with challenges quite different from those of their past nine seasons.
Does winning meaningless games build momentum for the postseason, which begins for the Twins on Tuesday in Oakland? Or are they truly like spring training, when health and morale matter more than results?
"I hope that we would get on a roll," Gardenhire said. "You want to go out on a positive note, with guys swinging the bats well, but once you get to the first playoff game, everything changes.
"Then it's 'Game on.' Guys don't have to get motivated for that. They'll be ready. The only thing that happens is there could be a little more of a positive attitude on our players' minds if they're playing well. They could be saying, 'Yeah, I'm swinging good right now.' They could also say, 'Yeah, I'm not swinging that good right now, but who cares? I'm ready to go.' "
Twins third base coach Al Newman, who played on the Twins' championship teams in '87 and '91, gave a shorter answer. "None of this will matter," he said, "once we get to Tuesday."
In an attempt to quantify the effects of late-season games on a team's postseason chances, the Star Tribune reviewed how each World Series champion since the 1987 Twins fared in its final 10 regular-season games.
Not surprisingly, in a sport where even the best teams go through numerous winning and losing streaks in a season, the results vary by year and team.
This much is certain: Losing games down the stretch doesn't necessarily have a negative effect on a team's postseason chances.
Weak finish in '87
The '87 Twins lost their last five games, and their two best starters, Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven, each lost his last start of the season.
Those Twins upset the Detroit Tigers in the playoffs and beat the acclaimed St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
"When we won [the division title] in '87 it was as if we didn't have to win any more games," Newman said. "The only people who were concerned when we lost after we clinched were fans and writers, because they thought you had to go into the playoffs on a winning streak.
"We just wanted to prepare mentally. TK [former manager Tom Kelly] just kept saying, 'Don't do anything stupid.' We didn't want to get anybody hurt, and we wanted to make sure our key people were ready."
The 1991 Twins lost four of their last five then beat a good Blue Jays team and the first edition of the Atlanta National League dynasty to win another Series.
"Same program," Newman said. "You still play hard, but you're focusing on what you need to get done in your batting stance or your pitching mechanics to be a success in the playoffs.
"We may lose the game, but we may execute two quality hit-and-run plays, and that's preparing for the playoffs."
The 2000 Yankees lost their last seven games. The 1998 Yankees won their last six. The 1997 Marlins lost their last four. The 1989 A's won five of their last six. All won the World Series.
Tight races hurt
A review of teams since 1987 that, like the Twins, clinched a playoff spot with two weeks or more remaining in the regular season reveals another mixed grille.
In 2001, Seattle and Oakland clinched berths early. Seattle, despite winning a record 116 games, lost in the ALCS. Oakland lost in five games in the division series to the Yankees.
In 1999, Cleveland lost in the division series to Boston. In 1998, the Yankees won the World Series, San Diego lost the Series and Houston lost the division series.
In 1995, Cleveland and Atlanta both clinched early and faced each other in the Series, with Atlanta winning.
And in 1991, Pittsburgh clinched early, but lost the NLCS to Atlanta.
Perhaps more significant is that teams that win their division by a narrow margin seem less-prepared to make a postseason run, perhaps because their players are worn down and their pitching hasn't been set up for the playoffs.
Last year Arizona beat San Francisco by only two games and won the World Series. The last time a team had won its division by two games or fewer and still won the Series? When the '87 Twins allowed the Royals to close to within two games by the end of the season, then went on to win it all. But the Twins had clinched the division with a week left in the season, allowing Kelly to set up his rotation.
"If you could draw up a blueprint, you'd want to clinch as early as possible," Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said. "You want to get your people rested and set up and you don't want that mental drain of taking it down to the last day.
"This is the ideal scenario for us, as far as I can tell. We've had a few setbacks, but that could happen no matter what your situation is. If we were in the race, we'd probably be playing Jacque right now. But we don't have to."
Left fielder Jacque Jones, a key to the lineup and outfield defense all season, missed a week of games because of a sprained ankle. Gardenhire had the luxury of waiting until Jones looked completely healthy before putting him in the starting lineup Friday.
With the division clinched, the Twins staff also was able to set up the playoff rotation with 10 days remaining in the season and was able to concentrate on getting previously injured pitchers Brad Radke, Eric Milton and Joe Mays fit, instead of relying on them to win crucial games.
"About the only thing I wanted to see is us getting our regulars to 100 percent, and everybody getting their repetitions in," Ryan said. "To see Milton get stretched out, to see our rotation get set up, to get into a normal routine, that's what we want.
"I remember the Yankees really scuffling down the stretch a couple of years ago, and they won the Series. Of course, they're a more veteran outfit than we are, and I'm sure they have that veteran type confidence that we don't have because they've been through it. But I'm still not sure there's much correlation between how you play the last week and how you play in the playoffs."
The Twins' core players haven't had to prepare for playoffs before. "I think it was good for us to clinch early," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "We had some guys who were really beat up that nobody knew about, and they needed some time off.
Jim Souhan
Star Tribune
Published Sep 29, 2002 TMOM29
Since the Twins clinched the American League Central title on Sept. 15, they have partied, slumped, rested, limped, winced, convalesced and pondered the question: "What do meaningless games mean?"
At times, they have treated their late-September games like spring training contests. After that approach yielded three ugly losses in Chicago over the previous weekend, manager Ron Gardenhire held a team meeting Tuesday, asking his players to play harder in the season's last week. Thursday, following a 12-inning game on Wednesday, he pulled all but one starter by the sixth inning.
Dealing with post-clinching games, in which winning means little but losing remains bothersome, has provided the Twins with challenges quite different from those of their past nine seasons.
Does winning meaningless games build momentum for the postseason, which begins for the Twins on Tuesday in Oakland? Or are they truly like spring training, when health and morale matter more than results?
"I hope that we would get on a roll," Gardenhire said. "You want to go out on a positive note, with guys swinging the bats well, but once you get to the first playoff game, everything changes.
"Then it's 'Game on.' Guys don't have to get motivated for that. They'll be ready. The only thing that happens is there could be a little more of a positive attitude on our players' minds if they're playing well. They could be saying, 'Yeah, I'm swinging good right now.' They could also say, 'Yeah, I'm not swinging that good right now, but who cares? I'm ready to go.' "
Twins third base coach Al Newman, who played on the Twins' championship teams in '87 and '91, gave a shorter answer. "None of this will matter," he said, "once we get to Tuesday."
In an attempt to quantify the effects of late-season games on a team's postseason chances, the Star Tribune reviewed how each World Series champion since the 1987 Twins fared in its final 10 regular-season games.
Not surprisingly, in a sport where even the best teams go through numerous winning and losing streaks in a season, the results vary by year and team.
This much is certain: Losing games down the stretch doesn't necessarily have a negative effect on a team's postseason chances.
Weak finish in '87
The '87 Twins lost their last five games, and their two best starters, Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven, each lost his last start of the season.
Those Twins upset the Detroit Tigers in the playoffs and beat the acclaimed St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.
"When we won [the division title] in '87 it was as if we didn't have to win any more games," Newman said. "The only people who were concerned when we lost after we clinched were fans and writers, because they thought you had to go into the playoffs on a winning streak.
"We just wanted to prepare mentally. TK [former manager Tom Kelly] just kept saying, 'Don't do anything stupid.' We didn't want to get anybody hurt, and we wanted to make sure our key people were ready."
The 1991 Twins lost four of their last five then beat a good Blue Jays team and the first edition of the Atlanta National League dynasty to win another Series.
"Same program," Newman said. "You still play hard, but you're focusing on what you need to get done in your batting stance or your pitching mechanics to be a success in the playoffs.
"We may lose the game, but we may execute two quality hit-and-run plays, and that's preparing for the playoffs."
The 2000 Yankees lost their last seven games. The 1998 Yankees won their last six. The 1997 Marlins lost their last four. The 1989 A's won five of their last six. All won the World Series.
Tight races hurt
A review of teams since 1987 that, like the Twins, clinched a playoff spot with two weeks or more remaining in the regular season reveals another mixed grille.
In 2001, Seattle and Oakland clinched berths early. Seattle, despite winning a record 116 games, lost in the ALCS. Oakland lost in five games in the division series to the Yankees.
In 1999, Cleveland lost in the division series to Boston. In 1998, the Yankees won the World Series, San Diego lost the Series and Houston lost the division series.
In 1995, Cleveland and Atlanta both clinched early and faced each other in the Series, with Atlanta winning.
And in 1991, Pittsburgh clinched early, but lost the NLCS to Atlanta.
Perhaps more significant is that teams that win their division by a narrow margin seem less-prepared to make a postseason run, perhaps because their players are worn down and their pitching hasn't been set up for the playoffs.
Last year Arizona beat San Francisco by only two games and won the World Series. The last time a team had won its division by two games or fewer and still won the Series? When the '87 Twins allowed the Royals to close to within two games by the end of the season, then went on to win it all. But the Twins had clinched the division with a week left in the season, allowing Kelly to set up his rotation.
"If you could draw up a blueprint, you'd want to clinch as early as possible," Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said. "You want to get your people rested and set up and you don't want that mental drain of taking it down to the last day.
"This is the ideal scenario for us, as far as I can tell. We've had a few setbacks, but that could happen no matter what your situation is. If we were in the race, we'd probably be playing Jacque right now. But we don't have to."
Left fielder Jacque Jones, a key to the lineup and outfield defense all season, missed a week of games because of a sprained ankle. Gardenhire had the luxury of waiting until Jones looked completely healthy before putting him in the starting lineup Friday.
With the division clinched, the Twins staff also was able to set up the playoff rotation with 10 days remaining in the season and was able to concentrate on getting previously injured pitchers Brad Radke, Eric Milton and Joe Mays fit, instead of relying on them to win crucial games.
"About the only thing I wanted to see is us getting our regulars to 100 percent, and everybody getting their repetitions in," Ryan said. "To see Milton get stretched out, to see our rotation get set up, to get into a normal routine, that's what we want.
"I remember the Yankees really scuffling down the stretch a couple of years ago, and they won the Series. Of course, they're a more veteran outfit than we are, and I'm sure they have that veteran type confidence that we don't have because they've been through it. But I'm still not sure there's much correlation between how you play the last week and how you play in the playoffs."
The Twins' core players haven't had to prepare for playoffs before. "I think it was good for us to clinch early," catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "We had some guys who were really beat up that nobody knew about, and they needed some time off.
