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BobYes but the Angels play in the AL West which is inferior to the AL Central this year. It really doesn't matter, the Twins beat whom they had to. They beat the Red Sox 5 out of 6 games and the White Sox 3 out of 4 and the Tigers 3 out of 4 down the stretch. The Angels don't deserve to be in the playoffs, as they are probably the 6th best team in the American League at best behind the Yankees, Tigers, Twins, A's, White Sox before they spit the bit.
Mark Twain said there were 3 kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics.
The Twins earned it.
Here is what should have been on Sportscenter tonight:
Jim Souhan: A team worth celebrating
After a miserable spring, waves of injuries and four amazing months, the Twins and their fans have earned it.
Jim Souhan, Star Tribune
The Twins meandered, bleary-eyed, into their Metrodome clubhouse Monday afternoon, having returned from 11 days on the road. They strolled to their lockers to sort fan mail and ponder a question that four months ago seemed unimaginable.
"We're gonna celebrate when we get in, right?" Phil Nevin asked Justin Morneau.
"We've got to," Morneau said. "Don't we?"
For days, the Twins privately considered whether to pop champagne corks when they clinched at least a wild-card berth or whether to hold back in hopes of winning the division title.
Monday night, they beat the Royals 8-1 to qualify for the playoffs, and suddenly their mouths were too filled with bubbly to continue the debate.
Yes, the Twins celebrated like champions late Monday, and no matter what happens the rest of this season -- whether they hold a World Series parade down Chicago Avenue or fail to win another game before reporting to Fort Myers in February -- we should celebrate this team.
On June 7, the Twins were 25-33, and their April blueprint was drenched in White-Out.
From that day through this morning, they built the best record in baseball, 68-30, despite injuries to such key players as Shannon Stewart, Torii Hunter, Francisco Liriano, Brad Radke and Rondell White, despite replacing 60 percent of their starting rotation and the left side of their infield, despite relying on players with blank résumés and uncertain futures.
Monday night, they continued to elicit contributions from the infirm and the recently anonymous, and standing ovations from an enthusiastic crowd of 18,108.
Tattooed pitcher Boof Bonser, sent to the minors after a lousy start early in August, dominated the game and continued to turn his first name into a Metrodome rallying cry.
"Boof wins this one," bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek said before the game, "and everyone has to get a tattoo."Yeah," the Canadian-born Morneau said, noting the ink on his shoulder. "Maple Leafs for everyone!"
Nick (Sparky) Punto, a former injury-prone utility infielder who became the everyday third baseman in mid-June, got three more line-drive hits and kept his uniform perpetually dirty.
Hunter, playing despite a stress fracture in his left foot, reached 30 homers for the first time in his career and launched himself into the baggie to make a catch.
St. Paul's Joe Mauer reached base four times to hold the lead in the American League batting race, and Brooklyn Park's Pat Neshek got three more outs with his homemade sidearm delivery.
Amid chants of "M-V-P," Morneau ended the Twins' last rally with a majestic eighth-inning home run.
And, as always, the boys ran the bases like they were double-parked.
After closer Joe Nathan recorded the last out by fielding a grounder and flipping the ball to Morneau at first, the players on the field began their usual celebratory rituals.
The outfielders met second baseman Luis Castillo for a procession of silly handshakes, and Nathan threw an arm around Morneau. When the bench and bullpen arrived, the party started.
Players hugged, then began leaping in unison. They slowly left the field, with Hunter pointing to the crowd and Morneau tipping his cap, and scaled the steps to the clubhouse.
The champagne was waiting. The players decided they didn't need to.
They soaked themselves, christening what might be the most remarkable four months in Twins history.
"It's really hard to describe what has happened here," Punto said.
Yes, it is. Somehow, the Twins of Jason Tyner, Dennys Reyes and Boof Bonser made it to the playoffs.
Everyone who loves baseball played with skill and passion -- everyone who loves a good story -- should have synchronized their cork popping with the Twins late Monday night.
09-27-2006, 01:03 AM
8 games under .500 to 30 games over .500
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