Mackey: It's time to put Chicago away and move on to bigger priorities
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Warning: This article may contain optimism.
This may come as a shock, but there tends to be an underlying insecurity and inferiority complex among Minnesota sports fans -- and possibly even among Minnesota sports teams themselves, in some cases -- that drives people to fret about the worst possible scenario.
In recent years, that sense of panic stems from Vikings debacles in the 1998 and 2009 NFC Championship Games. And the Gophers' embarrassing losses to Michigan in 2003 and to Wisconsin in 2005.
Or to South Dakota on Saturday.
It also comes from the Twins' struggles against the Yankees over the past half-decade.
And from other places.
Well, I make no promises about any potential future playoff match-ups with New York (or Tampa Bay or Texas), but call this a hunch:
Actually, call it reasonable, educated conjecture:
Heading into Tuesday's three-game series against the Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins (85-58 overall and 10-5 against Chicago) -- who have a 97.3% chance of winning the division according to CoolStandings.com -- stand a better chance of catching the Yankees and/or Rays for home-field advantage than they do of blowing a six-game lead in the AL Central.
AL best record
1. Rays (87-56)
2. Yankees (87-57) .5 GB
3. Twins (85-58) 2 GB
4. Rangers (80-63) 7 GB
AL Central
1. Twins (85-58)
2. Chicago (79-64) 6 GB
Let's treat the Twins (39-16 since the All-Star break) like they deserve to be treated, as a World Series contender that can compete with, and beat, anybody in baseball -- not as a team that is desperately clinging to a six-game lead with 19 games to go.
That's not to say the importance of this upcoming series with Chicago is diluted in any way, because six-up with 19 to go isn't a lock by any means. If the White Sox go crazy this week and sweep the Twins, the situation could get stickier, and as we've found out over the last few years, weird things can happen down the stretch, especially in the American League Central.
In 2009, the Twins sat three back of the Detroit Tigers with four games to go. They also sat two games under .500 (70-72) as late as September 12, and 5.5 games back on September 14, but still wound up forcing game 163 and eventually won the division.
In 2006, the Twins fell 12 games behind the Tigers in mid-June, went on a 33-8 run, and still sat 10.5 games back at the beginning of August. Yet, they still found a way to close the gap and win the division on the final day of the regular season.
There are other recent, similar scenarios as well, such as the 2007 New York Mets, who on September 12 sat seven games up on the Phillies, but managed to squander it all. Or the 1995 California Angels, who led the AL West by 11.5 games over the Seattle Mariners in mid-August that year before letting it slip away.
But the Twins -- who own the AL's third-best OPS (.769), second-best team ERA (3.78), best team FIP (3.78), and third-best bullpen ERA (3.33) -- don't deserve the nervous treatment.
Jim Thome thinks it's 2002 again, Joe Mauer is one of the best hitters in baseball since July, Francisco Liriano and Carl Pavano have emerged as one of the best 1-2 punches in baseball, and the bullpen bridge now runs six deep.
The Twins aren't just a pesky team playing over its head.
They are legitimate contenders.
Does that guarantee anything from now until the end of October? No.
But again, this week isn't about clinging to a six-game lead. It's about sticking a dagger into Chicago's heart -- perhaps by taking just one out of three and maintaining a five-game lead -- and setting sights on the Yankees and Rays.
It's about plowing forward, not looking back.
