The Minnesota Twins won the American League Central division championship with 101 wins, the most since 1965. They set several home run records in a season where just about half of all Major League Baseball teams set their own long ball records. They also benefited from playing in a division where two of the four other teams (Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers) lost at least 100 games. Which is where the Twins were a few years ago.
TV ratings on Fox Sports North (sold during the season from Disney to Sinclair, best known for using local news to spread right wing propaganda) went up 65%. But most of America never got to see this team except for a couple of appearances on ESPN (against either the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox) and once on You Tube.
Now we know why network executives were reluctant to schedule the Twins, because once again they were swept by the Yankees in the American League Division Series. The Yankees dominated with their own bats (they don't call them the Bronx Bombers for nothing), and had better pitching than the Twins could ever afford. It was Minnesota's 16th consecutive playoff loss, an MLB record, tying them with the NHL Chicago Blackhawks of the 1970s for the pro sports mark. Thirteen of those losses were to the Yankees The Twins have not won a playoff game since 2004.
The Twins will probably get more network TV appearances in 2020, but by then they'll be back in the mediocrity from whence they came as MLB comes up with ways to deaden the ball a little. Another reason why 2019 will always remain one for the record books.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our World Series match up: New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Cardinals
No comments:
Post a Comment