A Fan Base Divided

Originally posted at k-bro's baseball blog

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So, the Twins have had a bit of a tough go of the start of the 2012 season, huh? And, apparently, there's nothing like going winless for the first four games to divide the fans.

The optimists insist that four games is too small a sample size to get too worked up about yet, and the pessimists see that all the flaws aren't being fixed. And each side keeps insisting that the other is nuts.

Who's right?

Well, both.

After suffering through a despicable 99-loss season, fans are understandably eager to see signs of improvement. Spring Training may have had some glimmers of promise, but many of those glimmers have snuffed out now that the season is here. Batters are still banging the ball into the ground for outs. Defenders are still fumbling about. Pitchers are still serving cookies. It's hard to find anything to hope for.

However, with 158 games left in the season, there is still plenty of time to make adjustments and improvements. The health is better. Certain positions are better. It won't take much for a few key guys to find their groove. The luck is certain to change soon.

I guess the real picture is somewhere in the middle. It's important to remember that, while the mess of 2011 won't likely be completely solved in one year, the playoff teams aren't so far away that there's no going back.