If the Twins’ season was a fight the corner would’ve thrown in the towel several rounds ago, as they’ve now lost 12 of the past 13 series, including seven in a row.
Since climbing to 50-56 on July 29 to convince the front office not to become sellers at the trading deadline the Twins have gone 9-31, which is the second-worst 40-game stretch in team history ahead of only the miserable 1982 season.
That year the Twins lost 100 games for the first and only time, going 60-102 while trading both Roy Smalley and Butch Wynegar to the Yankees and breaking in rookies Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky, Randy Bush, and Tim Laudner. In retrospect that mess was the start of a rebuilding process that led to a championship five years later and a second title four years after that, but it’s hard to imagine 2011 in similar context.
There are 16 games remaining and the Twins must go just 4-12 to avoid the second 100-loss season in team history, which sounds fairly simple except for the fact that they’re 4-12 in their last 16 games and also went 4-12 in the 16 games before that. They’ve already lost five more games than any other team in the Ron Gardenhire era and are a near-lock to finish with the fewest wins since the 1999 team went 63-97 under Tom Kelly.
I was born in 1983, so there’s a good chance this will be the worst Twins team of my lifetime. They’re now in last place, two games behind the Royals, and in a virtual tie with the Orioles for the AL’s worst record. They won’t be able to catch the Astros for baseball’s worst record, but the Twins’ run differential of -160 is within range of Houston at -163. Toss in the $115 million payroll with contender expectations and this might be the worst season in Twins history.
