Scorecard Excerpt: Post-Break Bursts

If you're not familiar with the Twins' Official $1 Scorecard, you should be. It's sold at the program stands near the entrances to Target Field, and it's only one buck. How many things can you buy at the ballgame for a dollar? Aside from providing the necessary tools for a scorekeeper to do his/her thing, the scorecard also includes content that changes for each series. Even if I didn't happen to be the guy supplying that content this year, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy each time you make it out to the park. It may be the best value at Target Field.

Below you'll find an excerpt from the Twins' side of the next coming scorecard, which will be available during the Athletics series when action resumes after the All-Star break.

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When the Twins have made the playoffs under Ron Gardenhire, it has – without fail – been the result of an excellent second-half. Below you’ll find a comparative list of Minnesota’s annual pre-break and post-break records during Gardy’s tenure. The thing that sticks out is that every playoff team (2002, ‘03, ‘04, ‘06, ‘09, ‘10) was characterized by major second-half improvement. The collective post-break winning percentage of those teams is .623; for non-playoff teams, it’s .433.

In order to climb back into contention, this current club will need to play well over .600 over the final months. But then, they’ve made a habit of that.

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