And Evil Wins, 1-0.

One to nothing. The Chicago White Sox beat the Twins one to nothing to win the American League Central Division and advance to the playoffs. This is a good lesson for your kids: sometimes evil defeats good. Sometimes the bad guy wins.

Imagine if Darth Vader would have defeated Luke Skywalker. Kind of the same idea. The White Sox are an overpaid, large-market squad comprised of ass-holes and jerks that can't stand each other. But, I don't want to sound bitter.

I hope Tampa destroys them.

On the positive side, the future looks bright for the Twins. They are a young team with a new stadium on the way. And I've got to hand it to Nick Blackburn for his performance tonight. You can't ask any more of a rookie starting pitcher. I've got to hand it to Jose Mijares, the rookie reliever who held the Sox scoreless in the late innings. And, hey, Joe Mauer won his second batting title.

If you are a longtime fan of Minnesota sports teams, you had to sense that the Twins were going to lose this game. Literally, one minute before Jim Thome hit his game-winning home run, I mentioned to my neighbor Tito Jackson "as a Minnesota fan, I know the other shoe is going to drop." BOOM - home run!

Folks, as I have mentioned before, I only have one explanation as to how the Twins have won two World Series championships. It has to be that we, as a state, passed into a parallel universe in October of 1987 and October of 1991. That is the only plausible explanation that I have.

So, it's wait 'till next year. On to hockey season (certainly not football, for Cliff's sake).

Goodnight. Go Tampa!

Jeff

Tonight's the Night. Good vs. Evil.

It all comes down to this. Twins vs. White Sox in a one-game playoff tonight. It's in Chicago because they won a coin flip. That, of course, is The Way Things Work. Would you really expect a team from Minnesota to win a coin flip? (By the way, why does the NFL have six-million tie breakers to determine playoff positions, but baseball goes immediately to the "all-mighty coin flip?"). After all, the Twins won the series season against the Sox. Doesn't that mean anything?

It's basically good vs. evil tonight. White hats vs. black hats. A low-payroll team vs. a big-budget team (which I'm actually getting a little sick of saying). Guys that legitimately like each other vs. guys that can't stand each other. If you want to read a good article about that, here it is. You-betcha Minnesota vs. Big-Bad Chicago.

None of that stuff really matters, however. The Twins had plenty of chances to win the division on their own, especially against Kansas City, but they squandered them. This is the way it should be, I guess. A team should have to prove they can beat their hated rivals on the road before they make the playoffs. The White Sox, by the way, have not proved that.

So, we'll see what happens. It should be interesting. Good vs. evil.

Jeff

Sunday Ramblings...

As another weekend draws to a close, here is what is on my mind:

1. The Twins win their last their game to finish 88-74. Now, we must wait to see if Detroit can knock off the hated White Sox on Monday. Dools - if we ever needed your Tigers to come through, it's on Monday. Freddy Garcia can get some revenge on his old team if all goes OK.

2. While I'll thank the Cleveland Indians for playing hard and beating the Sux on Friday and Saturday, I have to rip them for basically lying down and playing dead on Sunday. Rather than starting potential Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, who complained of a "sore neck," they went with some guy named Bryan Bullington who was claimed off of waivers from the Pirates. Of course the Sux won. One note - a player released from the lowly Pirates just cannot be that good. Thanks Cleveland!

3. Congratulations go out to Jase's Brewers who earned the NL Wild Card and made the playoffs for the first time since 1982. I had a feeling they would make it this year. After all, if there is a team in baseball that is guaranteed to choke, it's the New York Mets. (Kind of ironic that Johan Santana left the Twins because he felt "they weren't spending the money to compete!"). I would not want to play the Brewers in the playoffs. They have the ability to get hot a score a lot of runs. If their pitching can hold up, they could do some damage.

4. Did the Vikings play today?

5. Brettfavre threw six - yes, six - touchdown passes today against the Cardinals. Geez, that's pretty good.

That's all I have for now.

Jeff

Post II of the Day. Warning: Sour Grapes Ahead...

Four double plays. And suddenly, Morneau can't hit the broad side of a barn with a cannon.

The Kansas City Royals used to be an excellent baseball franchise until the mid-1980's. Since then, they have been terrible - except each September. Since the mid-1980's, the sole purpose of the Kansas City Royals is to ruin some team's season in late September/early October.

Two years ago, the Royals did the Twins a favor by sweeping the Tigers at Detroit, basically handing the Central Division championship to Minnesota. Torii Hunter even sent the Royals a case of champagne to thank them (which they eventually returned).

Well, it's happening again. The Royals are playing as if their very existence depends on the outcome of this series. I guess that I have to give them credit for that. They certainly do not "lay down and die."

It's interesting to hear the announcers talk about how "this bodes well for the Royals in 2009." Supposedly, it gives their revolving door of young talent some experience that they can use next year.

No it doesn't. The Royals will suck again in 2009 and finish in last place. They will, however, ruin some team's season again in September. No question about that. Oh, and by the way, who do the Twins play next year to end their season in the last three games ever at the Metrodome?

The Kansas City Royals.

This Is Real

I'm taking a short break from Twins coverage to move back to politics. As you may know, I have great respect for Senator John McCain. His Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, however, scares the living hell out of me. If this ticket wins the election, Ms. Palin would be ONE HEARTBEAT from becoming the.......

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

John McCain is 73 years old, and has had three bouts with cancer. I thought I would just post this little ditty from Sarah Palin's recent interview with Katie Couric in which she elaborates on her foriegn policy experience.

I must go now, because I have to stock up on canned goods, water and batteries.

Jeff

1st Place (for now)!

Quite a game last night! I never got that "it's over" feeling when it was 6-1 Chicago. No matter what happens from here on out, this series was perfect. And it couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of White Sox (A.J.).

By the way, for all of the criticism that I have sent towards Carlos Gomez, he really showed up to play in the series and had a huge impact on the games with his bat AND glove. Could be a good sign for next year.

It all comes down to 3 games against KC, and the Sux get the Cleveland Indians.

Go Cleveland!

Jeff

So Far, So Good....

Oh boy. The Kool-aid is flowing again. The Twins beat the hated White Sox 3-2 tonight in front of 42,000 at the Dome (on a school night!!!), putting them 1/2 game out of first with 4 games to play. Solid starting pitching, outstanding relief pitching, Delmon Young consistently hitting, Carlos Gomez robbing AJ of a double in the 9th, the Joe Nathan horse-blow......

Is this the Harmonic Convergence?

I wonder what Ozzie Guillen's blood-pressure is at right about now?

Thursday night should be good.

Jeff