The Guardians took two out of three from the Twins, sending us down to second place. On Wednesday the 22^nd, the Twins put up ten runs and still lost. Now it’s time for a three-game series against the Rockies and then a five-game series against the Guardians.

Part of me wants these games to be as feisty and spirited as a parking-lot fist fight.

We need a lot of runs to win games. Everyone needs to contribute, and the elite need to be at their best. Every at bat is personal now. Defensively, it’s time to pitch with a chip on our shoulders. We need to bring our best stuff every time we get on that mound. Cue “Street Fighting Man” by the Rolling Stones. Prep “What’s My Name” by DMX. We’re going to war on the base paths.

That’s what my gut tells me, at least. I want to see the Twins overpower, outmuscle, and subdue their opponents. I haven’t played baseball since elementary school and here I am, fired up about how this team needs an attitude. They’re out there every day, putting in the work with practice, training, and coaches. I think the Twins probably realize these games are important, and I know they’re trying pretty dang hard to get the job done. They probably don’t need a scruffy-haired guy from Iowa telling them to be aggressive, yet here I am. B-E A-G-G R-E-S-S-I-V-E.

What I’m really saying is I think the Twins are better than this. I think they should consider anything less than a divisional championship a wasted opportunity. Is it helpful for the team to look at it this way? Or, like Ted Lasso said, do they need to be goldfish with short memories and stay focused in the present?

Really, I’m a hypocrite. When I did play sports, I never got motivated when the coaches started yelling about “leaving it all on the field” and “playing every down.” I felt like I was already doing that. Of COURSE I was already trying to do that. I didn’t get fired up – I panicked. I played sloppier because I was trying to give more than I had. I didn’t ask questions because I felt like I didn’t need help, I needed to work harder. If I didn’t understand things it didn’t matter. I just needed to do it harder. I quit playing sports in high school and didn’t enjoy them until much later, when I wasn’t in a constant state of fear and panic.

So why hasn’t that kind of unhelpful thinking been worked out of me? Years of sports failure programmed me to buy into a cliché that didn’t work for me at all. Maybe it does for other people, but not for me. I know I don’t want to raise my daughter to push herself past the limit, risking injury and destroying joy. Maybe the first step is letting these Twins play these games as they see fit. Me wanting them to be ready to brawl doesn’t affect the team very much, but it does affect me. It’s time to challenge our motivations.