Thursday, July
9, 2009
Mental Block
I assume you all read the title
and assumed I was talking about myself, but that is “Writers Block!” No, I’m
talking about the apparent Mental Block that the Twins and their fans seem to have
when it comes to the New York Yankees. Yes, they have an amazing tradition and
history of incredible success. Yes, they are a team full of very talented
players. No question. The lineup they rolled out last night was very good. But
they are not invincible. The last couple of years, they didn’t make the
playoffs.
The players all seem to feel a
little extra pressure when they play the Yankees and it is quite evident on the
field, especially with the bats! Perfect example of that was Michael Cuddyer’s bases loaded horrible at bat strikeout against a
struggling AJ Burnett that probably was the key at bat in the game.
And to make it worse, the
announcers keep reminding us of how great the Yankees are. And again, they are
good, and they have great history. But to hear over and over again that “you
can’t make any mistakes against the Yankees” or “you have to do all the little
things right against the Yankees” or “You can’t beat yourself against the
Yankees”, is a little ridiculous. I mean, think about it. You can’t do those
things against the Red Sox either, or the Tigers, or the Royals. And seriously,
Ron Coomer,
we know you used to play for the Yankees and you’re still buddy-buddy with a
couple of the guys, but you work for the Twins telecast.
Finally, the Twins have good
players in their own right, and many of them matchup very favorably with the
Yankees counterparts. Joe Mauer is the best catcher in the game. Justin Morneau doesn’t have to take a
back seat to anyone at 1B (OK, maybe Pujols, but
everyone has to do that). Denard Span is
maybe the best leadoff hitter in the league. Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede have provided good power at
their positions. The starters are all capable of performing well, even against
this lineup. Joe Nathan is every bit
as good and as dominant as Mariano
Rivera, just doesn’t have the playoff experience to get that same
recognition.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong!
Maybe it is something else?! What do you
think?