September 28, 2017

The Minnesota Twins make history on Sept. 27, 2017

The Twins are headed to the postseason after they clinched the second wild card spot in the American League. In the process, they become the first team in major league history to make the playoffs after losing 100 games the previous season.

In 2016, the Twins were 59-103. As of Wednesday night, the Twins are 83-75. The Twins lost to the Cleveland Indians 4-2 Wednesday, but then watched as the Chicago White Sox’s Nicky Delmonico hit a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

That home run touched off a Twins celebration in the visitor’s locker room at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

The Twins have one more game against the Tribe, then come home to play the Detroit Tigers to end the regular season. After that, the Twins will face either the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox in a one-game playoff. Both teams present the Twins with some challenges: The Yankees, because they’re the Yankees that always beat the Twins, while the Red Sox likely will start star hurler Chris Sale. Either way, it’s not going to be easy for the Twins.

But before I spend too much time breaking down their chances, let’s savor the moment.

Well done, Minnesota.

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.