Numbers Game: The Twins (usually) do the little things, and other things

Numbers Game is an extension of the State of the Twins section, where we dive a little deeper into stats, trends, sabermetrics, and basically make peoples' heads explode.

As the Minnesota Twins take the next two weeks to rest up and prepare the pitching staff for the ALDS -- while at the same time attempting to earn home-field advantage over the Yankees and Rays -- we can definitely prepare to hear national scribes and talking heads fawning over one specific anecdote:

The Twins always do "the little things."

"Little things" in baseball can include, but are not limited to, playing solid defense, stealing bases, bunting, moving runners over, taking the extra base, helping old ladies cross the street, washing dishes without being told, etc.

"The little things" can also include actions not captured in box scores -- backing up throws, hitting the cut-off man, etc.

But for the purposes of this article, we will focus on things that are quantifiable.

How many times do we hear a national Fox or ESPN play-by-play crew come in for one game and spend three hours talking about how the Twins "play the game the right way?"

Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting the Twins don't do "the little things" or "play the game the right way."

Traditionally, they do. And that's a credit to manager Ron Gardenhire and his field staff.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the popular national perception -- at least until Jim Thome came along -- seems to be that the Twins scratch and claw their way to victories more than most teams.

But looking at the Twins under Gardenhire -- specifically past playoff teams -- it's clear each team has a different profile in terms of "the little things."

For example, Twins playoff teams have been exceptionally good at tallying sacrifice flies. Those same playoff teams have also racked up a large amount of base-running outs.

Twins playoff teams don't sacrifice bunt very often, but they are generally ranked in the top 10 defensively, and they almost always have one of the best batting averages with runners in scoring position.

In 2010, the Twins rarely steal bases, but they draw a ton of walks. In 2002, Twins base stealers were thrown out nearly 50% of the time.

Don't necessarily read too much into any of this. It's just interesting data to look at:

Extra base taken (runner advancing more than one base on a single or more than two bases on double):
2010: (41%) 11th
2009: (42%) 6th
2006: (41%) 15th
2004: (42%) 10th
2003: (44%) 5th
2002: (39%) 22nd

Outs on base paths (not including pickoffs, caught stealing or force outs):
2010: (58) 6th-most
2009: (59) 10th-most
2006: (68) 3rd-most
2004: (70) 3rd-most
2003: (72) 2nd-most
2002: (54) 18th-most

Stolen bases:
2010: (60) 25th
2009: (85) 18th
2006: (101) 13th
2004: (116) 4th
2003: (94) 10th
2002: (79) 19th

Picked off:
2010: (20) 9th-most
2009: (20) 8th-most
2006: (17) 16th-most
2004: (29) 2nd-most
2003: (24) 2nd-most
2002: (20) 9th-most

SB percentage:
2010: (69%) 20th
2009: (73%) 11th
2006: (71%) 16th
2004: (72%) 12th
2003: (68%) 22nd
2002: (56%) 30th

Sac bunts:
2010: (37) 22nd
2009: (51) 19th
2006: (31) 24th
2004: (46) 21st
2003: (42) 23rd
2002: (34) 25th

Sac flies:
2010: (53) 2nd
2009: (57) 2nd
2006: (55) 4th
2004: (40) 23rd
2003: (52) 7th
2002: (52) 9th

Groundball double plays:
2010: (155) 1st-most
2009: (147) 2nd-most
2006: (163) 3rd-most
2004: (130) 10th-most
2003: (139) 7th-most
2002: (121) 23rd-most

Team defense rank (using UZR, which includes range, throwing and errors):
2010: 7th
2009: 24th
2006: 8th
2004: 15th
2003: 9th
2002: 1st

Walks:
2010: (533) 7th
2009: (585) 12th
2006: (490) 22nd
2004: (513) 17th
2003: (512) 20th
2002: (472) 25th

Isolated power (Slugging percentage minus batting average -- basically weeds out singles to measure true power):
2010: (.150) 12th
2009: (.155) 12th
2006: (.138) 29th
2004: (.166) 14th
2003: (.154) 16th
2002: (.165) 9th

Home runs:
2010: (134) 19th
2009: (172) 13th
2006: (143) 28th
2004: (191) 12th
2003: (155) 20th
2002: (167) 12th

Batting average with runners in scoring position:
2010: (.286) 1st
2009: (.278) 4th
2006: (.296) 2nd
2004: (.277) 4th
2003: (.268) 12th
2002: (.269) 15th

Phil Mackey is a columnist for 1500ESPN.com. He co-hosts "Reusse & Mackey" weekdays from noon to 3 on 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
Email Phil | @PMac21 | Reusse and Mackey