Article: Twins vs. Yankees (Part 4): Ron Gardenhire & Those Damn Yankees

[John Bonnes]

The Yankees entered the 2002 season in the midst of a dynasty fueled by a record-setting payroll. The Twins entered the 2002 season literally battling for the organization’s life. Contraction had been approved by Major League Baseball's owners and the Twins were one of the two teams reported to be on the chopping block.

 

The Twins also entered the season with a new manager, Ron Gardenhire, replacing Tom Kelly who had retired following the 2001 season. Gardenhire was viewed as a player’s coach, the opposite of the prickly Kelly, and he knew many of the young players from their time in the majors and minors.He succeeded immediately. The underdog Twins not only won 94 games in 2002, they also won the American League Division Series, making it to the AL Championship Series before bowing out to the eventual World Champion Anaheim Angels. There was really only one blemish, barely noted at the time: the Twins had failed to win a single game versus the Yankees.

 

But then that happened again in 2003; the Twins played seven games versus the Yankees in the regular season and lost all seven. And that blemish seemed more important as the Twins prepared to face the Yankees in the ALDS.

 

The team finally beat the Yankees in the first game of that postseason, tallying three runs against Yankees ace Mike Mussina. But that’s as many runs as the Twins would score the rest of the series combined, losing one game in Yankees Stadium and two more at home, ultimately watching the Yankees celebrate on the Metrodome’s turf.

 

Things looked a little brighter in 2004 – the Twins at least won a couple of games versus the Yankees during the regular season – but that led to maybe the most painful of Gardenhire's playoff losses. The Twins beat the Yankees in Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS behind the arm of Johan Santana. And in Game 2, the Twins rallied to tie the Yankees 5-5 in the eighth inning thanks to clutch hits by Justin Morneau and Corey Koskie against none other than Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

 

To maintain that tie game in extra innings, Gardenhire turned to his own closer, Joe Nathan, in the 10^th and 11^th innings. That strategy paid off when the Torii Hunter hit a solo home run in the top of the 12^th to give the Twins the lead.

 

But Gardenhire stuck with the tiring Nathan in the bottom of the frame. It started well – Nathan struck out John Olerud – but then he walked Miguel Cairo and Derek Jeter before giving up a ground-rule double to Alex Rodriguez, of all people. (Honestly, only the Twins could turn Alex Rodriguez into a hero in New York.) Jeter would score the winning run two batters later, giving the Yankees a 6-5 win.

 

In Game 3, the Yankees beat up Carlos Silva, but the Twins had command of Game 4, leading 5-1 as the game went into the eighth inning. However, the Yankees rallied for four runs in that inning; the biggest hit was a three-run home run by Ruben Sierra against the usually dependable Juan Rincon. Of course, the Twins lost the game in extra innings on a wild pitch and watched the Yankees advance once again.

 

Whatever jinx the Damn Yankees had over Gardenhire’s teams never faltered. Even in the regular season, when the games didn’t mean as much, the Yankees triumphed. Over his managing career, Gardenhire’s Twins teams were only 26-64 against the Yankees. In his thirteen-year career at the helm of the Twins, despite steering teams that won the AL Central division six times, Gardenhire’s Twins teams NEVER had a winning season series record against the Bronx Bombers.

 

And believe it or not, that’s not the worst part.

 

The worst part was that in the six seasons where his team made the postseason, Gardenhire’s Twins faced the Yankees in four of them, lost all four series and won just two of the fourteen games they played. There is a litany of doomed big plays that Twins fans know too well: Nathan’s 12^th inning, Sierra’s home run, Cuzzi’s blown call, ARod’s home run. If ever there was a manager who must’ve been tempted to sell his soul to beat the Damn Yankees, it was Ron Gardenhire.

 

Previously:

Twins vs Yankees (Part 1): The Rise Of The Damn Yankees

Twins vs Yankees (Part 2): How Killebrew Killed The Damn Yankees

Twins vs Yankees (Part 3): A Twin Defects To The Damn Yankees

 

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[spinowner]

I remember the game when Gardy tried to stretch Nathan for 3 innings. He had rookie Jesse Crain and his 98-mph (straight) fastball in the pen but didn't want to bring him in because of his inexperience and the fact that this was a postseason game in Yankee Stadium.

Retrospect is easy, but as soon as Nathan put a runner on base I'd have brought in Crain and told him if he gets the save he's the hero and if he doesn't it's the managers fault for mishandling the bullpen and bringing a rookie in to face Jeter and A-roid so go ahead and try to blow them away.

[twinssouth]

I also remember the New York press jumping for joy when they saw the Twins would be the playoff opponent

[gunnarthor]

And naturally the Twins have a .600 winning percent in NY over Gardy's last 3 years.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Gardenhire was viewed as a player’s coach, the opposite of the prickly Kelly, and he knew many of the young players from their time in the majors and minors.

Gardenhire joined the MLB coaching staff in 1991, so I doubt he knew any of the 2002 Twins players from their time in the minors (with the exception of their time in big league spring training camp, obviously). Radke, Guardado, and Hawkins were the longest tenured Twins by 2002, and they didn't even sign with the Twins organization until 1991.  (Gardenhire didn't even manage Mike Trombley in the minors, who ignominiously ended his career back with the Twins in 2002.)

 

The rest of the article is spot-on (unfortunately).

Edited June 22, 2015 by spycake

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

Retrospect is easy, but as soon as Nathan put a runner on base I'd have brought in Crain

Yup.  Four straight balls to #9 hitter Miguel Cairo was a clue that things weren't going to end well as the top of the lineup faced Nathan a second time.  The 4-pitch walk to Jeter should have made that abundantly clear.  (He also began the A-Rod at-bat with a ball, then a called strike, before the fateful double on Nathan's 49th pitch of the night.)

 

For comparison, Mariano Rivera never threw more than 49 pitches in a postseason game (he did throw exactly 49 in his first postseason appearance, innings 12-15 of ALDS Game 2 in 1995 when he was still ostensibly a starter / long reliever).

 

Also notable, Shannon Stewart was still in LF for A-Rod's double, with Lew Ford parked on the bench.  Hard to tell on primitive video at the time, but any time a ball bounces over the wall, you have to wonder if a better outfielder would have made a difference.

[Loosey]

 

Also notable, Shannon Stewart was still in LF for A-Rod's double, with Lew Ford parked on the bench.  Hard to tell on primitive video at the time, but any time a ball bounces over the wall, you have to wonder if a better outfielder would have made a difference.

I remember that double and if I recall it was the one where Stewart seemed to think the wall was going to there about two steps sooner than it was and the ball dropped in as he was preparing to run into a wall that wasn't quite there yet.  Damn Yankees . . .

[John Bonnes]

I'm scarred by that 12th inning. I should go and find the story I wrote that night. Lord, I was bummed, though at the time, it was easy to think "Hey we're tied 1-1 coming home and have been the better team...."

[John Bonnes]

I found the story. I had trouble at first, because I apparently wrote it on StarTribune.com. But I made a copy in my original site. Here it is:

 

Sucker Punched
A few days ago, I wrote of glory, and the opportunity to show Minnesota sports fans that this low budget team is for real, by beating the best in their stadium in the only games that really count to these two teams.  I compared it to the Vikings season of 1998, and mentioned their playoff loss in 1999.  Today, those who watched feel a familiar sentiment, equal parts hopelessness and rage, mostly directed at a head coach. 

 

I'm betting the head coach feels the same way.

 

Except that in baseball, the leader of the coaching staff isn't a coach.  He's a manager.  That's something that most of us can relate to, because we work for managers, or are managers.  So we understand how important it is that good managers, while they have an area of responsibility, focus on their people, and their strengths and weaknesses.  We understand that the best managers are often loyal to a fault, that they protect their employees, and that their dedication is usually rewarded.

 

The key word in that last sentence was "usually".

 

This weekend, I heard Ron Gardenhire get savaged on his radio show by callers.  Their primary complaint was that he had prioritized resting his players over beating the Yankees, and thus had lost home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  I suppose some of that sniping came from people with different priorities, but mostly it sounded like it was just habit.  It sounded like they had grabbed the most available criticism of the week, lined up their priorities with it, and charged ahead.  I honestly felt bad for Gardenhire for having to deal with that.

 

He'll be dealing with a lot more than today.  Gardenhire made a number of decisions yesterday.  They were mostly consistent with his values of staying loyal to his veterans and protecting his younger players.  And without exception, nearly every one blew up in his face.

 

• Starting Jason Kubel as designated hitter - This is the one move that runs counter to most of the rest of Gardenhire's moves.  Based on Kubel's outing last week versus right-handed Yankees starting pitcher Jon Lieber, Gardenhire substituted the left-handed hitting Kubel for right-handed hitting Lew Ford.  Unfortunately, Kubel not only went hitless in six at-bats, he struck out on three terrible pitches in the most critical at-bat for the Twins in the game. 

 

• Staying with Shannon Stewart in left field - Lew Ford is a better defensive outfielder than Stewart even if both players are healthy, but Stewart isn't healthy.  He has a bad hamstring and a bad foot, and yet Ford finds himself batting as the designated hitter most games.  He also found himself sitting on the bench in the twelfth inning last night as a drive from Alex Rodriguez landed just beyond Stewart's outstretched glove, and drove in the tying run. 

 

• This is the second time in two years that the Twins have downgraded themselves defensively in the outfield to make Shannon Stewart feel like he's more than just capable defensively.  Last year they moved Jacque Jones, who has far more range than Stewart, to right field from the more spacious left field.  One can argue that this doesn't make much of a difference in the overall defensive ability of a team, and if it keeps an important hitter happy and productive, it's worth it.  One can also argue that Lew Ford would've made that catch last night and the Twins could have left Yankee stadium up 2-0.

 

• Letting Brad Radke start the seventh inning - In the bottom of the sixth, the Twins bullpen phone rang.  Brad Radke had contained the Yankees, but had struggled all night, and was clearly tiring as he battled John Olerud with a runner on second and two outs.  Radke finally won the battle, keeping the deficit at 4-3, and walked back to the dugout.

And in the bottom of the seventh, the same pitcher who looked so gassed a half inning earlier, walked back out of the dugout and to the mound.  He would get to start by facing Miguel Cairo at the bottom of the Yankees order.  Following Cairo was Derek Jeter, who had homered off of Radke once already.  Following Jeter was Alex Rodriguez, who had homered off of Radke once already.  And following Rodriguez was Gary Sheffield, who had homered off of Radke once already. 

So, you can probably guess how that went.  The Yankees gained an important insurance run, to make the score 5-3, prior to Grant Balfour replacing Radke as pitcher. 

 

The decision to keep Radke in the game was defensible, but that call to the bullpen suggests that Gardenhire knew better.  Was he afraid to use a young bullpen in that situation?  Did he want to avoid angering Radke (who might need to start his next game on short rest) by taking him out of the game after just six innings?  Did he think it important that Radke have a "W" next to his name in the box score?  Or has he grown sensitive to the media fracas that results when he removes Radke and a game is lost anyway?  Whatever the reason, the move likely cost the Twins another run, and it was a run that would prove costly a half inning later.

 

• Letting Joe Nathan pitch in the twelfth inning - And finally we get to the BIG ONE that everyone will be talking about coast to coast.  It's almost a carbon copy of the decision Gardenhire made six innings earlier, only with a worse result.  Again, the pitcher who had finished the inning before was clearly done.  Again, a call had been made to the bullpen to get a different reliever ready.  Again, it looks like Gardenhire chose to stick with his veteran rather than submerge a rookie into a tense playoff environment.

And again, it proved disastrous. 

 

There's consistency in these moves, beyond the tragic result of all of them.  They're also consistent with similar moves that Gardenhire has made through the season.  And they're consistent with a management philosophy that has allowed this organization to develop a hoard of young talent while simultaneously winning three division titles.  That may be of some comfort to Twins fans today, and maybe to a manager that had an especially bad day.

 

It may be, but I doubt it.