Wizard11

Here are a few tangential thoughts that this topic brings up for me. 1. I am concerned about the potential for Sano to have a career altering injury playing the OF ala Tony Oliva or Jason Kubel to name a couple of Twins to suffer that fate. Does Terry Ryan really want that to be his legacy? 2. I personally think fan's expectations are getting well ahead of the team development curve regardless of whether or not we "win or lose" the offseason. We are not realistically just a player or 2 away from contending. A much stronger base must be built in all areas to be a real contender. 3. I believe management's job is to setup those they manage for success. Is that really the case here for Sano? Park? or Molitor? or even Mauer? 4. It used to bug me about Tom Kelly's slavish adherence to defense even at the cost of offense (and having every hitter hit the other way including power hitters, but that is another topic). However having watched some of the porous defenses of the past few seasons, I am feeling nostalgic for all that even to almost include Hocking, Reboulet, Newman, etc.. 5. Terry Ryan was a pretty marginal pitcher in his playing career. Is his bizarre fetish of finding unknowns and rehab projects for the bullpen just his subconscious saying that he might have made it if only he had been given a shot in a Major League team's bullpen. Well that is enough random thoughts.

Thanks Nick

Seth, Thanks for a great walk down memory lane. I really appreciate your article as it is a great reminder of the joys and lows of baseball and of following your favorite team. So often the content of Twins blogs feels like one big dreary slog thru unhappy fandom with the endless criticisms of ownership, the front office, managers, coaching staff and players. It is always refreshing to read your inevitably upbeat content which to me exudes how much fun it is to follow baseball and the Twins. Their is nothing wrong with observing the shortcomings of our favorite organization, but it sure is a lot more fun to focus on the positive possibilities and the ever new hope that is the core of being a baseball fan.