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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 10th and 11th innings. That strategy paid off when the Torii Hunter hit a solo home run in the top of the 12th 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 12th 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 Click here to view the article

Twins Daily had its first ever Date Night on Thursday Night at the Ordway. 30 people enjoyed the event, which included: Gathering Generous samples of four varieties of Summit beer. It was so nice (and so accessible) that we made a critical tactical error. We had reserved a gorgeous room that overlooked the beer tasting with a cash bar – but nobody used it. We kept seeing couples go up there and then see the rest of us at the beer tasting and come and join us. I literally never stepped foot in that room once the event started. The bartender we had there must have been bored stiff.Clyde A really cool walk through of old Washington Senators memorabilia by Clyde Doepner, the Twins archivist. The display included several items from the time that the Damn Yankees was on Broadway (the mid-50s) including several letters from Presidents to Calvin Griffith, since it was tradition that the President threw out the first pitch on Opening Day. But the biggest treasure was Clyde. What a cool, passionate guy. Everything that was in that case was stuff that was saved by him when Calvin Griffith tried to throw out all his Senators stuff when he moved to the more cramped Metrodome. Did you know that the Twins are the only team that has a full-time historical archivist? Goodies Several clever touches, like baseball trivia before the show, a chance to get your selfie on a baseball card, and $2 hot dogs at concessions. The Show Finally, we watched a sold out Damn Yankees musical. I’m sure you can read better reviews than I can give. Me? It's baseball and a musical, so I’m a pretty easy sell. The show's goofy but delightful material was well done with performances ranging from solid to fantastic. The Ordway is clearly excited about this event, partly because I know they have a lot of big baseball fans on staff. That excitement shows through in the production and in all the stuff that surrounds it. Here are a few (pretty poor) pictures I snapped to give you a sense of the event. We’ll need to do something like this again. Here's the lobby overlooking the Summit Beer tasting that we didn't use. Download attachment: Lobby.JPG And here's the Summit Beer Guy.... Download attachment: Summit.JPG ...who we obviously did use. Download attachment: Gathering_900.jpg Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins’ dislike of the Yankees predates the Minnesota Twins. That’s because the Twins team that moved to Minnesota in 1961 was the Washington Senators franchise, and the Senators consternation with the Bronx Bombers goes back at least 80 years. That’s why the musical “Damn Yankees” featured the Senators – their dislike (or jealousy) of New York was legendary.That disgust likely started in the mid-20s. The Yankees were a fairly futile franchise until they traded for Babe Ruth in 1919. Soon after, they started collecting pennants and dominated the rest of the 1920s - except for 1924 and 1925 when the Senators rose up and knocked them out of first place. In fact, in 1924, the Senators not only beat the Yankees by two games to win the AL Pennant, but they also beat another heavily favored New York team – the Giants – to win their first and only World Series Championship. It could not have been more dramatic. The Senators had to play their last twenty games on the road that year, but never gave up first place in that stretch – but also never had more than a 2.5 game lead. They were led by pitcher Walter “Big Train” Johnson, who despite being 36 years old posted a 23-7 record with a 2.72 ERA in 1924. Johnson was as dominant a figure in early baseball as Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb. Johnson not only set the all-time strikeout record at that time (breaking the record of Cy Young) but also held it for 55 years. He is one of only three two pitchers to belong to the 400-win club. And in Game 7 of that 1924 World Series, he came back on one day’s rest to pitch the last four innings – including three extra innings – without giving up a run. He was the winning pitcher when the Senators scored in the bottom of the 12th and brought the District Of Columbia their championship. But to really understand how legendary Johnson was, listen to Ty Cobb (who was hardly known for his gushing praise) talk about the first time he faced The Big Train: “On August 2, 1907, I encountered the most threatening sight I ever saw in the ball field. He was a rookie, and we licked our lips as we warmed up for the first game of a doubleheader in Washington. Evidently, manager Pongo Joe Cantillon of the Nats had picked a rube out of the cornfields of the deepest bushes to pitch against us. … He was a tall, shambling galoot of about twenty, with arms so long they hung far out of his sleeves, and with a sidearm delivery that looked unimpressive at first glance. ... One of the Tigers imitated a cow mooing, and we hollered at Cantillon: 'Get the pitchfork ready, Joe—your hayseed's on his way back to the barn.' ... The first time I faced him, I watched him take that easy windup. And then something went past me that made me flinch. The thing just hissed with danger. We couldn't touch him. ... every one of us knew we'd met the most powerful arm ever turned loose in a ball park." Cobb was right: Johnson was arguably the greatest pitcher in the history of major league baseball. After his career, he was one of the “Five Immortals” (along with Ruth and Cobb) who were the first five players inducted into the Hall of Fame. But the Big Train was not actually immortal. By the mid-20s, his career was nearing its end, and he retired after 1927 amid another run of Yankees pennants. He came back to manage the Senators, including from 1930 through 1932 when the Senators won over 90 games each year – and still never finished closer than eight games back for the AL pennant. The “Nats” finally won the pennant again in 1934 – and then the bottom fell out. In the 22 years from 1934 to 1955 (when Damn Yankees opened on Broadway) the Senators only had three years where they finished less than 20 games out of first place. (And two of those were during World War II, when teams were forced to find ballplayers who had not gone to war.) During that same stretch of 22 years, the Yankees won fourteen AL Pennants and twelve World Series Championships. Yep – the Yankees won more World Series during that stretch than all the other MLB teams combined. As long-suffering Senators fan Joe Boyd notes in Damn Yankees, the Bronx Bombers were especially known for their power hitters. During that time, Yankees players hit more than 25 home runs in a season 29 times – and this was after Babe Ruth’s prodigious run. During that same time, the Senators didn’t have a single player hit more than 25 home runs. It’s no wonder Boyd is willing to sell his soul for a long-ball hitter. Ironically, the year that Damn Yankees opened, a quiet 18-year-old from Idaho hit his first home run for the Senators. He would be the one to break that powerless streak, but it wouldn’t be until the Senators were just about to move to Minnesota. And his nickname rightfully foretold that he would also be the player to end the Yankees’ dominance. That player was Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew. And his nickname was “Killer.” Part 2: How Killebrew Killed The Yankees. Click here to view the article