If You Win, They Will Come

Emily and I went to the Twins game tonight and I can't tell you how much I love the Metrodome. The fact is, I love watching quality baseball and feel so fortunate that the Metrodome drives all the casual fans away leaving great seats available to jackasses like me who get excited by watching Carlos Silva use his change-up to get the White Sox to hit into a bunch of ground balls.

And the simple fact of the matter is the Twins pack the Dome when they win. And there is plenty of atmosphere when the place is packed. If you buy the whole the Mom and apple pie BS about baseball and feel it HAS to be outside, go to a freaking St. Paul Saints game and soak up the atmosphere. You'll have plenty of time to do so, since the game is four action packed hours 80 mph fastballs, 12 errors, and a bunch of Punch and Judy singles.

Anyway, I cannot believe how incredibly well the Twins are playing. They are over 10 games up on the White Sox with their starting catcher out since the start of the season and half their starting infield on the bench nursing injuries. They've kicked the shit out of the White Sox both tonight and last night with something called Augie Ojeda starting at second base.

I truly believe the Twins have a shot to make it to the World Series. I had the same feeling about the San Antonio Spurs in 1999 and 2003 and look what happened (of course I also felt the same way about the Spurs in 1990, but that season didn't end as well).

This is one damn good team. Santana and Radke is one of the best back-to-back pitching duos not wearing an A's, Yankees, or Braves uniform that I've ever seen. Justin Morneau gives the team the power hitter they've always needed. Their fundamentals are solid. For the first time since I've lived here, they finally have consistent timely hitting (another reason it's easy to forget all about Doug Mientkiewicz).

But what makes this talented team a great team is the fact that they play harder (or as hard) as any team in pro baseball, from the stars like Radke and Hunter, to the scrubs like Augie Ojeda. It's pretty neat to watch, and I always feel like I got my money's worth. I can think of plenty of Spurs games I've been to where this wasn't the case. I love the Spurs, but I've seen them take nights off from time to time. I can't say the same thing about the 2004 Twins.

WIN TWINS!!!!