Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!
I sat in my room peeling apples for some delicious homemade applesauce with the Twins game on the game channel and the Tigers game on TV. Going into the day, Minnesota and Detroit were tied for the Central Division lead. Because the Tigers had won the season series between the two teams, if the Twins wanted the division title, they needed to win today and the Tigers needed to lose. This seemed somewhat unlikely, given that the Tigers were facing 100-game losers Kansas City and the Twins were facing a more formidable opponent in the Chicago White Sox. But in a season full of unlikely surprises, that’s exactly what happened as the Tigers choked big in KC.
The fourth inning of today’s game pretty much represented everything that is offensively awesome about the Twins — a double by Joe Mauer, a double by Justin Morneau, and the 31st homerun of the year for Torii Hunter. Oh, and did I mention that by going 2 for 4 today while over in New York Derek Jeter managed only a paltry 1 for 5 that Joe Mauer is the AL batting champ? Oh, wait… not only that, he’s the MLB batting champ — the first catcher ever to do so. How d’you like them apples, Derek?
And now that the season’s over, it’s official that Johan Santana, who’ll be going on Tuesday in game 1 of the ALDS, has won the MLB pitching triple crown — 2.77 ERA, 19 wins, and 245 strikeouts. If he doesn’t win the Cy Young unanimously, I’ll eat my hat. And photograph it and put it on this blog.
So bring on the A’s… the Twins have the momentum and a division title and the piranhas are ready to fight this postseason.