Twins End Postseason Win Drought

All photos of AL Wild Card Game 2 available on Flickr.

The Brewers had a disappointing early exit in the playoffs yet again, but I at least got to witness history in Minneapolis a few weeks ago.  The Twins hosted the Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, and their Game 1 victory was their first playoff win since 2004.  I attended Game 2 with my father-in-law, and they completed the 2-0 sweep for their first playoff series win since 2002.  Over the 19-year span in between playoff victories, it was certainly not for reasons of futility, as they made the postseason in 6 of those years including 5 AL Central titles.  This amounted to a total of 18 losses, 13 of which were at the hands of the Yankees, a long-time "white whale" of the Twinkies.  To put this drought into an even more startling perspective, all 29 of the other teams in baseball not only made the playoffs in that span, but each won at least two postseason games.  In 2004, smart phones didn't even exist yet.  Their current manager Rocco Baldelli was a 22-year old rookie.  Erik and I were just starting grad school and hadn't even begun planning The Tour yet.  I could go on.

Game 2 was an energy that I've not experienced at a baseball game since the Brewers won the NL Wild Card in 2008, themselves snapping a 26-year drought.  The crowd noise was palpable and we were standing for nearly the entire game.  Most games I go to, I'm eagerly awaiting the end of an inning so I can go walk around or grab another beer, but I didn't even want to leave my seat to go to the bathroom for this game.  I've been fortunate to be able to go to a fair number of playoff games over the last 15 years, but it was my first series-clinching game, and it was incredible to be in attendance.  It's not lost on me that two months after my wife and I moved here, the Twins decided to win their first postseason game in 19 years, and I received many texts from coworkers alerting me to that.  It makes me excited to be a good-luck charm and to just continue following this team more and more now as Minnesota residents.

I'm crossing all of my fingers and toes that I get to attend one more playoff game yet this year.  Erik and I are going to Phoenix next week for our Tour 2023 trip to the Arizona Fall League, and I actually decided to fly in a day earlier just to use up some extra vacation (and watch more ball).  The day I fly in happens to be Game 5 of the World Series, so if by some miracle the D-Backs can win two games in hostile Citizens Bank Park, and also not get swept in the World Series, I have my $300 upper deck ticket ready to go!  Regardless of the outcome of the D-Backs season, stay tuned to read all about our trip in a couple of weeks.

2023 GAMES ATTENDED:

Erik - 4

Peter - 22