Even though I was exhausted from lack of sleep and heartburn (dang kid), I still managed to stay awake long enough to watch the Twins beat Cleveland in a fantastic comeback win and then watch the White Sox get pummeled by Oakland. Watching that clubhouse celebration for the sixth time in nine years was awesome. OK, hormones may have had something to do with it, but when I watch a team who is consistently plagued with injuries (why yes, we did do this without the help of Morneau, thank you very much!) clinch another division title, it makes me a little teary eyed!

Now to actually make it to the World Series. That would really make the opening of Target Field this year one to remember.

And speaking of Target Field, if you ever get the chance to see a game there, do it! It’s a beautiful ballpark. I was two years old when they tore down Met Stadium and opened the Metrodome, so I’ve never had the privilege of watching outdoor baseball. I only got there once this year (too busy saving for baby and the impending hospital bills), but man, I can’t wait to go back. And next year, there will be a very big, albeit very small statured Twins fan accompanying me. I can’t wait for my new daughter to enjoy baseball in the best ballpark in the world!

ALCS: I’m predicting the Angels will win it. Do I think they can do it? Yes. Do I want them to? Hell yes. I’m about as far from a Yankee fan as is humanly possible. I’m rooting for my boy Torii Hunter to come through with some amazing outfield acrobatics, and good at-bats. I think the Angels are a well rounded team of very passionate, very determined players that deserve a ring and the honor of being the AL Champs. They’ve got the pitching, they’ve got the defense, and they certainly have the lineup to beat the Yankees. Yanks might win one, but the Angels will come out on top.

NLCS: Boy, this one’s tough. Both teams are excellent. Do I want to see an all-Cali World Series? Maybe. Better than another Subway Series. I don’t know if the Dodgers can make it against the Phillies, though. Both teams have the pitching and offense to do it. I’m really up in the air on the NLCS, but I think the Phillies will come out on top. (Sorry, Dodger fans, I like them too…)

I really think it’ll be an Angels-Phillies matchup this year, and I’m hoping to see the Angels come out on top. With former Twin Torii on the team, I’ll always root for whatever team he’s playing for, unless it’s the Yankees. But hopefully Torii won’t betray all who love him and go be a part of the Evil Empire…! Ha ha.

They played well, though. Everyone assumed they’d get annihilated by the Yankees, but you know, they didn’t. It took the Yankees 11 innings to win on Friday. If they were so horrible, wouldn’t they have won 12-0 in every game, in 9 innings?

I won’t even get started on the terrible Cuzzi call on Friday night. Would the Twins have won? Who knows. Probably not, the way the bullpen was handing out homeruns and hits every time the Twins scored a run in their half of the inning. But it sure would have been nice. Guess since we got the missed Inge call from Detroit’s game, we were bound to get a bad call against us. Doesn’t make it sting any less.

I was awfully disappointed in Joe Nathan in the playoff series. Here’s a guy who I’ve been able to leave the room when he came in and know the game was saved. This time around though, if I left the room (usually pacing, screaming at the TV with my back turned) I knew the tables would turn. Exhaustion from a long season? Nervousness? We’ll never know, but watching our “unhittable” closer give up run after run in multiple playoff games was painful.

A few offseason predictions and wishes for the organization:

Infield: Pick a 2nd and 3rd baseman already. This switching it up, rotating mess that has been 2nd & 3rd base needs to be fixed, pronto. Putting in players at random hasn’t done us any good. While Punto hasn’t been great offensively, he’s needed defensively. Keep him, but start solidifying (and if that means actually, I don’t know, SPENDING MONEY to get someone? DO IT!) the infield, so it’s not a total crapshoot evey game. You can rotate the outfield, but not the infield.

Outfield: Delmon’s got to go. He misses plays, looks lazy out there…wasn’t any good offensively until the last week of September. We’ve got Span, Cuddy, and Gomez to fill it out, that’s how it should be.

DH: Kubel, though he sucked in the postseason, has proven to be a power hitter. Keep him there.

Pitching: Oh, the pitching mess. Between inconsistencies and injuries, it’s been a musical chairs nightmare. Jesse Crain’s gotta go. We’ve kept him around past his prime, time to get someone who won’t give up a run every time he comes out. We’ll have Neshek back, so that’s good. Keep Rausch – guy’s been great. Time to dump Liriano. He was good once, doesn’t appear it’ll stay that way. The surgery didn’t do him any favors. Mahay’s shaky, Boof’ll be back, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed. Baker, Blackburn, and Pavano have been outstanding, especially since the All Star Break. Bring back Slowey (Perkins is iffy), and you’ve got Boof, Baker, Blackburn, Pavano, and Slowey. Work on the relievers. If Joe Nathan has another shaky year (yes, he had lots of saves, but how bad was it watching him come out and give up hits and runs all over the place nearly every outing?) it’ll be time to get someone else.

And please, please spend the money to keep Mauer and Morneau. If we have to go through another couple of seasons like in the 90s, it’s going to be tough to watch Twins baseball. They’re the faces of the franchise, be willing to give them what they want to keep them here. Otherwise it’ll be losing season after losing season until someone else comes along to fill that gap.

I’m already predicting next season won’t be a winning one. The Twins will be feeling out the new stadium, and I think that’ll affect their game. As a die hard, I’d love to say they’ll come out and win the whole thing, but I think being in new, unfamiliar “Twins Territory” will be costly during the season. I’m rooting for a great 2011 season. Who knows, maybe they’ll surprise me, but I’m just giving them the benefit of the doubt that it’s going to be new for everyone, so I’m not holding my expectations too high. If I had to pick a winner of the AL Central for 2010, I’m going Indians (you’re welcome Ted)…those guys are due. Great team, great fans – I think they deserve to come out on top next year.

Here’s to a productive offseason and hopefully a fantastic Angels World Series win. Those guys deserve it (considering Torii Hunter’s on the team, I’m a little biased)!

More importantly, however, is my memo to TBS regarding their announcers (that of course they’ll never read, but I have to crab about it a little)…

Dear TBS and your Yankee-loving announcers…

It was painful enough watching the Twins lose to the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALDS. This is a nationally broadcasted show, with fans of all teams tuning in to watch the game. Most fans around the country are not Yankee fans (and are not Twins fans either), and are hoping the Yankees go down in the ALDS or ALCS. Listening, every inning, to the announcers fawn over the Yankees and their oh-so-perfect baseball team (they’d better be, for $206 million in payroll) is not enjoyable for the fans of the Twins or any other baseball team. Missing Joe Mauer’s (another MVP candidate in the AL, it’s not JUST Texeira or Mr. Smug Jeter) entire at bat because the camera was focused on Joba Chamberlain’s bullpen session and listening to 15 minutes of discussion surrounding Mr. Chamberlain and where he was/wasn’t during the season was an insult to Twins fans and an insult to Joe Mauer (who, of course, got a hit during that at-bat). I have many friends who are fans of ALL teams from around the country, and the consensus from all of them was that the TBS announcers spent the entire game hanging from the Yankees’ jock straps for the better part of the game. Just because the Yankees buy their way into the playoffs every year with a payroll that no other team in either league can match does not mean they should get 85% of the media’s coverage. All teams in both divisions have merits and players worth mentioning (how about spending 15 minutes talking about how the Twins were told five, six, seven times by the critics that their season was over in April and beyond and wound up winning the division?). I know that a few minutes of the game were devoted to talking about the tiebreaker game, but the other 95% of the game spent drooling uncontrollably over the Yankees and their bought-and-paid-for, not homegrown team made listening to this game very irritating and biased. And let me reiterate that this is not the opinion of one Twins fan, but from many (check out Facebook and Twitter today!) fans of ALL teams around the leagues and you will see that I’m not kidding. Please do your utmost to ensure that this biased, insulting, and poor commentator behavior is halted. Thank you.

Of course, while what I said above was true, most of it was in jest. However, I had text messages and Facebook chats coming in all night from friends that are fans of the Angels, Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Dodgers, Padres, Chicago (both Cubs and White Sox), Detroit, and the Mariners that all touched on the same idea that the TBS announcers were hanging from Jeter’s jock strap all night. Not getting to even SEE Mauer’s at-bat because they were rambling on…and on…and on…about Joba Chamberlain was ridiculous. This is not Fox Sports East, or whoever broadcasts the Yankee games out there. This is supposed to be (in my mind, anyway) an unbiased commentary about both teams, not the one that spends more money. By the end of the game, I was so sick of listening to those knuckleheads spewing forth praise to their precious Yankees that I turned the sound off and listened to the rest on my local radio station while watching the game. Even our local radio station, who of course has a bias towards the Twins, had a better commentary to offer that included both teams equally. The talk on the local morning shows all touched on the fact that the small-market Twins are basically ignored if they’re up against the ever-perfect Yanks. And one wouldn’t think this should affect the Twins, but it can’t help their confidence if they don’t feel they have any chance, thanks to the media shooting them down before the season or playoffs even begin.

I’m sure there are Yankee fans that will dispute this, but if you’re on the side of the team getting all the non-stop praise, you probably wouldn’t notice. Being on the side of the small-market teams – the Twins, the Royals, the Rays, the Rockies, the Mariners, etc…it’s very noticeable that even though your team might have some great players, a great accomplishment, great home-grown (not bought) players that are fantastically talented, it hardly gets mentioned in the presence of the Yankees. I don’t need to hear how awesome Derek Jeter is. I know he’s a good player, and by the smug look he always has on his face, I’m sure he does too.

Anyways, rant over. I waited till my lunch break today to get that off my chest. It really was a very irritating game all around to watch…between the loss and the obnoxious Yankee-biased TBS commentators.

Here’s hoping the Twins, on a nice full day of rest, can get something done at the New Cathedral tomorrow night. And I’m looking forward to the BoSox/Angels matchup…that should be a fantastic game between two excellent teams to watch. I’m rooting for the Angels…they deserve it this year, and being the classy guys they are, they’ll be playing their hearts out for Nick Adenhart, RIP #34.

The Tigers, this year, were slated to hit 3rd or 4th place in the AL Central, according to the experts during Spring Training. Jim Leyland held his team in 1st place from May until the end of the season. That’s a pretty good accomplishment. Yes, the Tigers lost the playoff game. Yes, they were unable to hold the lead through the last week of the season. But funny how quickly people forget the lead those Tigers held through most of the entire season.

The guy has class. He’s a decent guy, knows when to argue and when to back off. He was criticized for pulling Porcello too early in the game yesterday. However, most of the reports coming in said that he didn’t just arbitrarily decide to pull the pitcher, he took the cue from the catcher, who warned Leyland that Porcello was done. Since the catcher is the one watching the arm angle, feeling the velocity, and basically knows exactly how the pitcher is feeling, if I were Jim Leyland, I’d trust him if he said Porcello was finished for the night. They criticized him for leaving Rodney in too long. Again, reports stated that Rodney asked for the ball for the bottom of the 12th. Rodney really didn’t make many mistakes, and pitched a hell of a good few innings, being he normally doesn’t stay in that long. Again, if I were Leyland, and my pitcher tells me he still wants the ball, I’d give it to him.

He’s a good manager. He clearly knows his players, knows how the game is played, and knows which calls to make. No manager has a crystal ball to know if the next batter will strike out or sock one into the stands. I thought that from his point of view, walking Delmon Young (who didn’t do squat against the Twins last night) to get to rookie Casilla was probably a good idea. I’ve heard a lot of criticism already about that move as well. “He should have known Casilla would single.” No, he was probably realizing that in the last week, Delmon Young hit his first grand slam and had RBI’s coming out of his…well, you know where. Casilla spent most of the season in the minors for poor production. Seems like a pretty clear choice to me. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work out that way. We all know what happened, so I won’t rehash it again.

Long story short, everyone trashing Leyland needs to take a step back. I’m sure it’s anger for losing the tiebreaker and ending the season, but really, the guy’s a great manager. And coming from a Twins fan, I hope that means something.

No matter who won or could have won the game, the contest between these two teams proved that either was worthy of moving on to the playoffs. My hat goes off to a tough, gritty Tigers team who played their butts off. Although I think the Twins could have still won, a lot of that game, and the Tigers’ loss, can be attributed to some bad calls. Detroit could have scored another run had Randy Marsh (home plate ump) seen the inside pitch that grazed Inge’s jersey. Watching many replays of the game on multiple networks, the double play that was turned to catch Granderson off first base to end a scary inning honestly didn’t look like Cuddy had the ball before Granderson touched the base. Only one angle was shown though, so that could be wrong. Had these plays been called correctly (the Inge play in particular), the Tigers could have won the game. Do I believe the Twins would have caught up and won anyway? Absolutely. These guys proved last night that they are a first place AL Central team. Mistakes were made, players were tired after 12 innings, but boy, can they put together an exciting game. Anyone who says baseball is boring hasn’t watched a game like this.

When the Twins are discussed (rarely, of course) by the news media, the big names – Mauer, Morneau, Kubel of late – are the only ones ever mentioned. They make the most money, hit the most homeruns, and are deemed as the only newsworthy mentions. Who won the game for us last night? Alexi Casilla and Carlos Gomez, two players who had less than ideal playing time (Casilla spent a better chunk of the season in the minors, of course). This shows the Twins’ entire lineup is crucial and important to a winning season. Detroit walked Delmon Young, perceived as a power hitter (and pretty much did nothing at the plate last night) to get to Alexi, who they apparently figured wouldn’t do anything. Our boys proved ‘em wrong though. The vision of Gomez on his powerful wheels sliding headfirst into home plate will be one that sticks with me for a long time.

I don’t care (OK, that’s not entirely true) if the Yankees beat the Twins in the ALDS. The game last night – the excitement, the history made – was *almost* as good as watching them win a World Series. Of course I want them to win the whole she-bang, but that was a game to be remembered.

Gotta give some props where they’re due though…Tigers, and Tigers fans…even though it came down to a one-game playoff to end the season, you’ve gotta be proud of your team. You carried a first place lead since May 10th…that’s pretty amazing. The AL Central would have been proud to send your team up against the Yankees.

And ChiSox fans…Gardy owes Ozzie a box of cigars for the awesome series you had against Detroit the final weekend. The Sox played some amazing baseball, and looked like they were having fun doing it.

I hope the Central heats up a little more next year. The whole division was pretty flat during the season (when compared to the other divisions), and I’m hoping all five Central teams will be playing their hearts out and bring the Central back to its once very feared and very respected status.

Go Twins, and let’s send the Dome out with a bang!!!

At the beginning of the season, Mauer wasn’t in the lineup till May. The critics said “Their season is over.” In May.

Mid-summer, probably shortly after the All-Star break, they were losing more games than they won. The critics said “Their season is over.”

End of August, when the Twins would go anywhere from 4-7 games out of first place and Morneau went down, the critics were sure their season was over.

The Twins are the little team that CAN. They can overcome a bad month, overcome injuries, even overcome a shaky starting rotation (inundated with injuries and inconsistency), and chase the first place team until the last series of the season, forcing that team to earn their spot in the postseason. All the media cares about is the Yankees and Boston, two teams who pay their way (by way of their high payroll) into the postseason. They forget about small-market teams like the Twins, who by sheer drive, talent, and back-to-basics baseball manage to sneak up that ladder in the “W” column and force a team who’s been comfortably atop the column to play for that spot. Even if they lose the playoff game, or if they win and lose the rest of the way, the Twins should be the headliners on every sports page, Sports Illustrated, blog, or conversation. Because every year when the critics say they can’t, the Twins can and will. There’s a reason their logo is tattooed on my shoulder. Because in my eyes, they are the best. They do it with class, they do it with talent, and they do it without a bunch of overpaid, egotistical players that are in it for the money. I love my Twins!

1) The public did NOT get to choose what kind of stadium was built. Making fun of Twins fans for “choosing” an open air stadium is ridiculous. Of course most people wanted a roof. We didn’t get it. Just paid the taxes for it.

2) Detroit, New York, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland…all these cities also have snow and rain. Why no criticism of their stadiums? Yes, it’s Minnesota. Yes, it snows here and rains here. We’re no better or worse off than the aforementioned cities.

3) Opposing teams whine about the Dome-field advantage. Well, no more dome. Quit whining.

4) The Twins played baseball at Met Stadium for 20 years, an open-air stadium. We are no strangers to playing sports outside in the cold. Most of us grew up playing hockey outdoors, wearing only a sweatshirt and MAYBE some gloves, in 20 below weather and we LIKED it.

It seems the only reason fans of other teams bring up the new stadium is because maybe they have no criticism for the Twins themselves, so they decide to attack the stadium…hmmm?? The true Twins fans out there, myself included, will be in the stands opening day 2010, wearing a winter jacket and gloves and cheering for our Twins. We have to. Our taxes paid for it…! Ha