The wake was Friday night at Target Field, and you might almost here “Danny Boy” verse for verse above those quiet Minnesota players and wheezing pitchers, composes Brian Murphy.
As faceplants go, this was 2:15 a.m. outside the Irish bar after the beer and bourbon run dry and the mourners stumble to an afterparty. Put one out for the choking 2024 Twins, who meekly bailed out of contention with a particular 7-2 loss to the playoff-bound Baltimore Orioles.
A crisis for the ages that hints a winter season of discontent and self-reflection, if they can stand it.
“That was plainly beyond a frustrating method to end what was, and seemed, an appealing season,” stated mournful supervisor Rocco Baldelli. “This will trouble me permanently.”
Yeah, get in line.
It just took the Twins 2 hours to finish a historical collapse after the Detroit Tigers put them on the clock around 8 p.m. with their wild-card clinching triumph in the house over the unlucky White Sox. Never ever forget their tomb was dug last winter season when ownership gutted a modest payroll and removed to the studs all that goodwill they had actually made in October.
“Just attempting to right-size our organization,” a tone-deaf Joe Pohlad delicately discussed throughout spring training about slashing $30 million from a postseason lineup and sorting through the free-agent deal bin like an old housemaid. Willful contempt for your audience is no chance to run an organization, however, hi, I’m not the one with varied holdings and billions in the bank.
The Pohlads betrayed their fiduciary responsibilities as franchise caretakers by letting their item fossilize and presuming their consumers would not see. They easily scapegoated insolvent Bally’s Sports and the legal catfight this summertime that depressed incomes and blacked out broadcasts for a broad swath of faithful and constantly gouged clients.
Worse, they stopped working to check out the space and reward a pitiable fan base that had actually fallen back in love with the Twins and brought back the holler at Target Field last fall when the group won its very first championship game in 20 years and lastly advanced after losing 9 straight series. Negative stewardship for all to see. What a waste.
All that energy and momentum turned to ash when the Twins began the season 6- 12. They excited from their rest and stacked enough wins through Aug. 17 to peak at 70-53 and ultimately construct a 10 1/2-video game lead over Detroit in the wild-card race. Not rather the 1951 Giants and Bobby Thompson snuffing a 13 1/2-video game deficit and beating the Brooklyn Dodgers. Or the Red Sox choking away a 14-game benefit on the Yankees in ’78. The meek Twins’ six-week collapse was extensive adequate to state this season one of the most encompassing and awkward in franchise history.
“There’s an expression that whatever occurs for a factor; I do not like it,” stated Pablo Lopez, who was tagged with his 10th and last loss of an underwhelming and irregular season for the ace.