Article: Twins Believe Hot Start Is More Than Smoke (Machine) And Mirrors

[Tom Schreier]

The Minnesota Twins need to let loose. They need to believe that they can’t be held back by expectations, by the culture of losing created by four straight 90-loss seasons, by the numbers that say that they have outperformed their capabilities up until this point.For the most part everyone in the locker room appears unhindered by outside speculation, ignorant or at least cleansed of the team’s previous losing ways. They feel that that they are, as a unit, more talented than people give them credit for after a 20-win May — the first time the Twins have reached that number in a month since 1991 — given that they have played everyone in the AL Central, as well as teams like the Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, and taken a series from everyone except the Detroit Tigers.

 

This is why the dance party was so vital for this team. Veteran presence and leadership get thrown around any time a team brings in an older player, but Torii Hunter’s influence on this team is tangible. It’s hard not to notice something different when the clubhouse is so full of smoke that Mike Pelfrey and Glen Perkins, who occupy the corner lockers next to the entrance, can’t see Joe Mauer and Hunter, who have the lockers by the players-only section of the room, when they are getting changed after games.

 

Entering the Twins clubhouse is like entering the high heavens, and it’s hard not to laugh when Hunter is running around saying, “It’s all medicinal. I have a card,” or at the notion of Pelfrey, all 6-foot-7, 230 pounds of him, dancing in the middle of a group of his teammates as a laser show takes place in the background. “I actually danced [and got] a lot of cheers, but I think they probably cheer for everything,” says the maligned starter, who is having his best season as a Twin. “I can’t imagine a 6-7 white guy being that good.”

 

“He doesn’t dance too much,” says Plouffe, beaming.

 

Why it works is that everyone on the team, except for Hunter of course, is a bad dancer. “It’s a ton of fun,” said Nolasco, another free agent signing who’s had his fair share of struggles, after picking up his 100th win.

 

“Dance moves are all right,” said Aaron Hicks, smirking. “What I learned in high school.”

 

“He took his shirt off and waved it in the air,” said Hunter, making fun of Hicks. “We got a lot of guys dancing, and we figured out a lot of guys cannot dance.”

 

While the post-game celebrations are unlikely to turn anyone into a contestant on Dancing with the Stars, it has allowed everyone to let their guard down. Plouffe, who came up as a shortstop in 2010, was converted to a third baseman who struggled at the hot corner before this season, has been able to joke around with the pitchers about his defense even though it is much improved. “I think I started at about an aluminum glove and then plastic and then I’ve moved my way up,” he says. “I still got a ways to go, but I’m improving, which is good.”

 

“He’s been unbelievable,” says Pelfrey. “I made a little joke, he might have started off with a plastic glove and every game he keeps moving up — he might even be at bronze right now. We’re working towards that gold glove.”

 

Plouffe admittedly has had his ups and downs in his major league career, and at times has become upset with criticism he got from fans, media and presumably his fellow players. “I mean, you hear it, but it’s not something I dwell on, because if baseball teaches you anything, it’s that if you fail, don’t give up,” he says. “Did I hear it? Sure. Did it deter me from working hard and believing in myself and being confident? No.”

 

Players have been outspoken about both their teammate’s strengths and weaknesses this season, something that has been taboo in year’s past. Things have always been congenial in the Twins locker room, but never this loose — at least not when the media are around. In the past, players deflected questions about one another if asked about a shortcoming, resorting to a select few stock answers. Now they are more honest than ever.

 

That’s the magic of a veteran like Hunter: After all, if a player is able to make a fool of himself in front of all his teammates with music blasting, lasers firing and smoke filling the room (and flowing into the manager’s office and the corridors of Target Field), why should he be embarrassed when he makes a mistake on the field? So what if the fans see it? The players know that they have each other’s backs, and that’s what counts.

 

It should be noted that Hunter did this on his own, and that new manager Paul Molitor could care less that he didn’t ask permission. “It was a nice surprise, kind of a little something different. I didn’t know that it would pick up steam, if you will,” he said (get it?). “It turned into a ritual as far as winning here was concerned, but I didn’t then, and I don’t have issues with it. It’s kind of them being able to establish their own thing that they do.”

 

Molitor could have been insecure as a first-year manager and cracked down on the practice, either because he was upset about all the smoke in his office, or because he thought Hunter was trying to undermine him in a power struggle. But Molitor and Hunter played together with the Twins and formed mutual trust. What Hunter is doing is good for the team, and therefore it’s not going to be questioned.

 

The whole ethos of the Twins is predicated on everyone doing their thing, and it comes from the top. General manager Terry Ryan says he won’t look at the player he’s going to draft with the No. 6 overall pick — he’ll just rely on his scouting reports. “I hate to break your heart. Who do you want me to go look at?” he asked the media. “You gotta pick and choose what you’re gonna see. If I go in there and don’t like him, am I going to go to the 12 scouts that have seen him and say, ‘We’re not taking him’?”

 

It’s not an uncommon practice for him — he only saw Tommy Milone pitch a few times before trading for him, for example — and it’s something that can easily be criticized: The Twins aren’t winning because their manager doesn’t know who the team is acquiring. But what it means is that he has faith in his scouts and in the protocol that they follow. Even with decisions regarding the 40-man roster, he’ll allow Molitor to have his say before the final decision is made. “I’m not that hard to work with,” he says. “There’s no unilateral moves in this organization, everybody’s gonna have a say. Ultimately it’s gonna land in my chair — somebody’s gotta make a decision.”

 

That is why he gets upset when national media covers his team. “I don’t particularly like a guy dictating our future that has never seen us play,” he said when informed that Grantland writer Michael Baumann questioned whether the Twins were for real this year. “You base your opinion on visual, plus statistics — that’s fair.”

 

I reached out to Baumann — whose article not only represents popular sentiment at a national level, but in the Twin Cities as well — to get his take. Baumann is very active on Twitter, and responded right away by saying he relied mostly on statistics, many of which aren’t very complicated, as well as his general knowledge of baseball. He also said Ryan probably wouldn’t say that the team’s start was all luck, while acknowledging that it is a small sample size and difficult to predict a team’s future at this point in the season.

 

“Well, if he was sitting here, we could talk to him and see what he thinks,” says Ryan, who meets with the media every day, of Baumann, who is quoted above, “but he’s not here and he wrote that, and he hasn’t seen us play, right? That would be like me taking an evaluation that’s never saw a guy play, he just read the stat page. I would call that invalid.”

 

The bottom line is that the Twins have to keep winning, and perception will change. Plouffe, who came up as a rookie in 2010 who was looking to please everyone around him, has now taken a leadership role with this team and remembers what it was like before the team collapsed, says that he gets the same feeling in this locker room as he had before. “This year we’re a little bit more of a dark horse, I guess you’d call it, which is fine for us,” he says. “But it is similar in that we show up to the field expecting to win every day.”

 

Tom Schreier can be heard at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays with Ben Holsen and Mike Morris and co-hosts a morning show 8-10 a.m. on Sundays on 105.1 FM.

This post was originally published on the Cold Omaha section of 105TheTicket.com.

 

Click here to view the article

[Circus Boy]

Good read. Fun to follow this team. If they keep it up, they'll make the Big Dance.in October.

[Zachary]

I really enjoyed this article. Through the sheer act of reading written words, my feelings of optimism and positive attitude towards the Twins was raised even higher than it currently is. I think there's something to be said for that.

[brvama]

Very good article. I was interested in Ryan's comments about his decision making on the roster, etc. I also like the bit of fire regarding media's dismissal of the Twins success. Again good write!

[Dantes929]

Dancing and team unity and chemistry are all very good but they are probably a result of success as much as a cause of it.    Hunter's influence didn't seem to matter much until he hit 3 run homers to back it up.    

[jimbo92107]

The secret sauce that is making this team win is subtle, and has many different spices in just the right proportion. The luckiest part has already happened - we have a combination of young players on the rise, like Hicks, Rosario, May, and Gibson. We have younger veterans that are nearing their peak potential, like Plouffe and Dozier. We have several solid veterans that hold their own and stabilize the team. We have Torii Hunter, a unique personality that helps pull it all together and inspires everybody to bust their butts. Even struggling Danny Santana is doing everything he can to get better, and it's showing. Oh, and Joe Mauer is hitting about .380 with runners in scoring position.

 

To that you add a coaching staff that is one of the best in the business. Gene Glynn, Paul Molitor, Neil Allen, Tom Brunansky and Eddie Guardado. Then, to top it off, you've got management that has enough sense to not meddle with a good thing.

 

The only weakness I've seen in this team so far is, when they face a Cy Young candidate on a good day, they don't do very well. Otherwise, the Twins look like they can beat anybody.

[Han Joelo]

Great read--thanks for sharing. Love the secret sauce.

[glunn]

This is a great article and may explain a lot.

[JustinCB]

Nothing like the smell of a good puff piece in the morning!

 

[h2oface]

So correct me if I am reading this article wrong, please. Ryan is upset and considers it invalid for Baumann to write an article from a collection of stats and a general knowledge of baseball, and Ryan is upset that someone do that without seeing the team play. But that is basically his exact practice when he decides who to draft. He won't look at them, but rely on other people's reports.How is this different than what Baumann is doing? Isn't it all opinion, anyway?

[Carneal&Gordon]

Tom,

 

This is the first article I've read from you and your insight was fantastic!

 

 

 

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

So correct me if I am reading this article wrong, please. Ryan is upset and considers it invalid for Baumann to write an article from a collection of stats and a general knowledge of baseball, and Ryan is upset that someone do that without seeing the team play. But that is basically his exact practice when he decides who to draft. He won't look at them, but rely on other people's reports.How is this different than what Baumann is doing? Isn't it all opinion, anyway?

That struck me as an odd juxtaposition too.

 

I also don't like the general attitude that certain opinions are invalid simply because the experiences behind them aren't identical to yours. I see that attitude used to justify a lot of unjustifiable things far too often, not that TR is employing it for those ends here. But I feel like he would make similar defensive statements even if the Twins record matched the underlying stats, or if the opinion was from a local scribe or a fan here who indeed had watched the team a lot, so how meaningful are these statements, really?

 

And what's wrong with being humble? If a national writer says the Twins are all luck and are likely to be the worst in the league going forward, obviously disagree with that, but say that there are certainly areas where we need to improve to stay on top -- after all, that is simply what much of the recent stat analysis is saying. Then say we feel like we are addressing them and already seeing evidence of improvement.

 

All that said, I am enjoying the ride and discussing all facets of it. Just not necessarily the "us vs the haters" type mentality on display here.

[REPETE]

 

The secret sauce that is making this team win is subtle, and has many different spices in just the right proportion. The luckiest part has already happened - we have a combination of young players on the rise, like Hicks, Rosario, May, and Gibson. We have younger veterans that are nearing their peak potential, like Plouffe and Dozier. We have several solid veterans that hold their own and stabilize the team. We have Torii Hunter, a unique personality that helps pull it all together and inspires everybody to bust their butts. Even struggling Danny Santana is doing everything he can to get better, and it's showing. Oh, and Joe Mauer is hitting about .380 with runners in scoring position.

 

To that you add a coaching staff that is one of the best in the business. Gene Glynn, Paul Molitor, Neil Allen, Tom Brunansky and Eddie Guardado. Then, to top it off, you've got management that has enough sense to not meddle with a good thing.

 

The only weakness I've seen in this team so far is, when they face a Cy Young candidate on a good day, they don't do very well. Otherwise, the Twins look like they can beat anybody.

Agreed, there is a "secret sauce" at work here.  Hunter brought an attitude, but also is playing great.  The young guys are improving, and I still think a lot of that credit goes to Hunter & Molitor.  They're back to the TK ways of making other teams pay for mistakes, and winning the games that are handed to them, and not blowing games they're ahead in.

As for the "weakness" of not hitting Cy Young candidates, I think that's what makes them Cy Young candidates.  

This team may not win the world series, and may regress.  But they're really starting to feel like the '91 team.  Nobody thought that team could sustain their success, until the season was over.  Then, in hindsight, everyone "knew" that was just a good team.  

[JB_Iowa]

I see that "smoke and mirrors" has been replaced on ESPN by "they are beating bad teams."

 

I have to laugh at how much love the White Sox are getting.

[Monkeypaws]

 

I see that "smoke and mirrors" has been replaced on ESPN by "they are beating bad teams."

 

I have to laugh at how much love the White Sox are getting.

 

I saw that too: "bad teams" like Boston, Toronto, and Tampa Bay.

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

 

So correct me if I am reading this article wrong, please. Ryan is upset and considers it invalid for Baumann to write an article from a collection of stats and a general knowledge of baseball, and Ryan is upset that someone do that without seeing the team play. But that is basically his exact practice when he decides who to draft. He won't look at them, but rely on other people's reports.How is this different than what Baumann is doing? Isn't it all opinion, anyway?

 

Terry Ryan was saying he wouldn't trust a scouting report from a guy that only read the stat line. He's saying the same thing about Baumann. He trusts his evaluator's reports because they've seen the player. His decisions as GM are based on reports from people that have seen the player play and have done their statistical homework. He does some scouting too, but there's only so many places one guy can be. His argument is that he trusts his scouts to help him make decisions, and he doesn't trust the opinion of a writer that has only done half the job that a scout does.

 

He's saying Baumann's article is lazy scouting. Not saying I agree with Ryan 100%, but I don't think he's contradicting himself at all.

 

The Twins are benefiting from mistakes by the opposing teams, and so to me the question becomes, how much of the Twins actions (aggressive base running, good fielding, timely hitting) are forcing mistakes, and how much of it is just luck? That question something that could be explored by watching the games in person, or on tv (not just the highlights, the whole game)... How long can a team be lucky before they are actually good?

 

 

[jimmer]

Seems the popular opinion is that any story/article/evaluation that shows the Twins in a positive light is considered well done, well researched, well reasoned, etc. and any that doesn't show the Twins in a positive light gets nitpicked and labeled poorly done, poorly researched, bias against the Twins, etc.

Edited June 5, 2015 by jimmer

[drjim]

 

Seems the popular opinion is that any story/article/evaluation that shows the Twins in a positive light is considered well done, well researched, well reasoned, etc. and any that doesn't show the Twins in a positive light gets nitpicked and labeled poorly done, poorly researched, bias against the Twins, etc.

 

I thought the popular opinion was that positive articles were ignored?

[Mike Sixel]

 

I thought the popular opinion was that positive articles were ignored?

 

More that they are read, but don't generate much commentary.

 

to the point of the article, very nicely written. Thanks.

[jimmer]

 

I thought the popular opinion was that positive articles were ignored?

That's not really the same thing at all, but since you said that...you mean like the big positive thread I put up 2-3 days ago and which only had 9 responses? It was all about some of the positive things going for us this year. There were even suggested topics to be expounded on in other threads if one wanted to, as I pointed out in my BTW at the end. I was hoping all the people who like to point out all the negative threads would roll with it and there would be a lot more positive threads for us to discuss... and it got 9 responses.  

 

This isn't a complaint, just an interesting observation.

[jimmer]

At this point, some are basically suggesting, in their knocks against their 'negative' articles, that national writers not post anything about the Twins unless they watch every minute of every game lest they have one or two inaccurate things and be dismissed as not knowing what they are talking about.  That's asking too much

 

...and yet for a long time the complaint was the national writers ignore us.  

Edited June 5, 2015 by jimmer

[jimmer]

BTW, Tom, what you wrote was a very enjoyable read, thank you.  It's nice to hear the Twins are having so much fun.  Baseball should be fun.

[drjim]

 

That's not really the same thing at all, but since you said that...you mean like the big positive thread I put up 2-3 days ago and which only had 9 responses? It was all about some of the positive things going for us this year. There were even suggested topics to be expounded on in other threads if one wanted to, as I pointed out in my BTW at the end. I was hoping all the people who like to point out all the negative threads would roll with it and there would be a lot more positive threads for us to discuss... and it got 9 responses.  

 

This isn't a complaint, just an interesting observation.

 

The way I think about it is that there is no difference in how well they are written, researched, reasoned etc, just that "positive" articles when a team is playing well just aren't that interesting. "Negative" articles are much more worthy of discussion and worthy of a deeper look, which will generally lead to more thorough critiques of everything about the article. Those articles are interesting to critique in the same way that it is interesting to critique a team that is playing above what would be expected.

 

The flip side, in my opinion, is that the last four years (at least the last two) probably worked in reverse. So many articles pointing out the flaws of a bad team probably became tiresome and generated less of a deeper look. Articles that tried to spin "positive" would have been worthy of more discussion and a more thorough critique of the specifics written in the article. Doubtful they were worse written, reasoned or researched.

[Dantes929]

 

 

 

The only weakness I've seen in this team so far is, when they face a Cy Young candidate on a good day, they don't do very well. Otherwise, the Twins look like they can beat anybody.

That was actually a kind of funny comment.   I would say by definition a Cy Young candidate on a good day does well against anyone.    Its not really a weakness.   Aside from David Price I have been really happy with how the Twins have done against other team's top pitchers

[Otto von Ballpark]

Why can't folks simply disagree?  Just like the recent Cameron thread, generally these "national writers" are not unaware of what we see as major factors behind the Twins success/projection, they simply disagree with them.  There's nothing wrong with disagreement.  You don't always have to characterize the person you're disagreeing with as having some failure of effort (i.e. not watching every game).

[Kirby_waved_at_me]

I would argue that Terry Ryan does have a reason / incentive to say what he said - though I think Dave St. Peter would have more incentive to say it, since he's the one trying to sell tickets. 

 

Ryan takes criticism from the media personally, at least, he talks like he does... This is a team that he (along with the scouts and evaluators that work with him) built and the light at the end of the long, dark tunnel that Ryan has been promising for years is starting to appear. He wants to be able to say that his efforts are bearing fruit. Could he be more tactful about it? Yes.

 

I agree with Baumann's article that the Twins early success is based on generally unsustainable situational hitting and other factors that have swayed in their favor.

 

I also think that Terry Ryan's point, while being a little unfair/rude to Baumann's article, is a valid point in general. Stats and Analysis are important but do not tell the whole story. If anything, the Baumann article makes me want to watch more Twins games, because they are defying the expected outcomes; something unique is happening. Is it really just pure luck?  

 

[Mike Sixel]

Probably, yes. Orioles fans for years said they weren't lucky to win all those 1 run games.......and then the year they didn't win any, they ummmmm, they stopped talking at all.

 

Dozens of years of baseball data exist, to deny that there is luck involved in most any outcome is just denial.

[drjim]

 

Probably, yes. Orioles fans for years said they weren't lucky to win all those 1 run games.......and then the year they didn't win any, they ummmmm, they stopped talking at all.

 

Dozens of years of baseball data exist, to deny that there is luck involved in most any outcome is just denial.

 

Terry Ryan didn't confirm or deny anything about luck. He didn't mention it (at least not in this article).

[Mike Sixel]

 

Terry Ryan didn't confirm or deny anything about luck. He didn't mention it (at least not in this article).

 

Was it not obvious I was replying to the post above, with a whole paragraph on luck.

[drjim]

 

Was it not obvious I was replying to the post above, with a whole paragraph on luck.

 

No, but that is a me issue.