I only got to see the ninth, and I had forgotten how filthy his change-up was. Congrats, Johan!!

Yes!

Congrats Johan

 

And all 3 no-nos this season had Twins' connotations:

 

Johan and Humber were former Twins (and were traded for each other)

Weaver's (unfortunately) was against you know who....

Johan will always be one of my favorite Twins players. It was great to see him complete this accomplishment. I had tears coming to my eyes when the final out was recorded.

Pretty ambivilant about Santana. He screwed the Twins pretty good on his way out the door. His demands about where he would accept a trade helped lower the return.

 

On the other hand, nobody put a gun to Bill Smith's head and said Santana had to be traded to anybody.

 

So...meh on the no-no.

Best pitcher in Twins History - Hard to argue against two CYAs (not that CYA). Now he's come back from surgery to get a no-no. Major kudos to Johan.

I'm really happy for Johan. I'm not sure why I have so little bitterness towards him, but it might have something to do with how finished he looked a year ago. Glad to see he's back.

I have no ambivalence about Santana. Why do some fans think that the player should always do what is in the Twins best interest? Do you honestly feel that the Twins always do what is in the player's best interests?

 

Santana gave Twins fans MANY memorable moments when he pitched here. Why shouldn't he have been entitled to take advantage of the rules in getting what he thought would be the best situation for himself? I value loyalty but it is a two-way street and I didn't see the Twins stretching the limits to keep him.

 

I am incredibly happy for him. And very happy for Mets fans. They've been through a lot in the last few years. It was nice to see them rewarded with an historical franchise moment.

I have no ambivalence about Santana. Why do some fans think that the player should always do what is in the Twins best interest? Do you honestly feel that the Twins always do what is in the player's best interests?

 

Santana gave Twins fans MANY memorable moments when he pitched here. Why shouldn't he have been entitled to take advantage of the rules in getting what he thought would be the best situation for himself? I value loyalty but it is a two-way street and I didn't see the Twins stretching the limits to keep him.

 

I am incredibly happy for him. And very happy for Mets fans. They've been through a lot in the last few years. It was nice to see them rewarded with an historical franchise moment.

Exactly this.

I was happy for Johan. I honestly didn't think he would be able to make much of a comeback, so good for him. I didn't see the play but I heard that Beltran hit a ball that landed on the chalk but was ruled foul. Regardless, it was a fine pitching performance by one of the greats in Twins history.

Why would anyone hold a grudge toward Santana? He didn't demand where he wanted to go, he just wanted the 6-7 years that elite players like him were getting and the Twins would not offer more than 4 or 5.

 

In my humble opinion, I hope Santana not only succeeds but excels. Let us not forget that without thier contributions with the teams they played for after the Twins, neither Rod Carew or Bert Blyleven would be in the Hall of Fame. Santana is far from a sure thing, heck, his odds are still probably less than 50% at this moment, but baring another extention with the Mets, if he does make it into the Hall, he's going in as a Twin and that would make me proud. For the same reason I'm cheering for success for Joe Nathan as well.

Best pitcher in Twins History - Hard to argue against two CYAs (not that CYA).

Steve Carlton, Walter Johnson, Bert Blyleven, Early Wynn among others would argue against that statement. They are all in the Hall of Fame, and I suspect that Johan will not make it...

In fariness, he did say Twins history. Only Blyleven and Johnson are in the hall wearing caps from this franchise and only Blyleven as an actual Twin. I might argue if anyone was comprable in a Twins uniform it might be Jim Kaat. He should be in the HOF, if he hadn't been shoved to the bullpen after age 40, he surely would have had the 17 extra wins needed to reach 300 whis is basically an automatic qualify. That said, I don't think any Twin was as dominant, even Frank Viola in his prime, as Santana.