When thinking back to the inaugural season of Target Field, Twins fans remember consistent sell outs at the new outdoor park. Maybe the novelty has deteriorated, but a 15 percent drop in attendance this season thus far suggests a Minnesota-wide boredom with the 2012 Twins squad.
One look at the 2012 roster leads the casual fan to ask: who? Nathan, Kubel and Cuddyer, have been replaced by the likes of players named Parmelee, Doumit and even some guy named Clete. The second half of the Twins roster used to be known as “The Piranhas” now many refer to them as the Rochester Red Birds, the Twins minor league affiliate.
Starting back at the beginning of the 2000s, fans remember previous Twins teams the media described as a team on a 40 million dollar payroll grossly lacking talent. That 2002 Twins squad was recognized on Opening Day at Target Field celebrating its ten-year anniversary of the 2002 playoff run. Die-hard fans remember a 2002 team that if nothing else would try harder than its opponent and through that effort would win.
Behind first-year spark plug manager Ron Gardenhire, the 2002 Minnesota Twins put together a roster of Torii Hunter, Latroy Hawkins, Jacque Jones, Eddie Guardado, Joe Mays and Brad Radke. No Morneau, no Mauer, no superstars.
The Twins 2002 utility infielder Denny Hocking threw out the first pitch on Opening Day and in that moment Twins fans were awarded a temporary distraction from reality. The 2002 Twins were lovable, as it appeared they had a 25-man roster of everyday guys who possessed elevated levels of grit and hustle. The Twins were the Tim Tebow of Major League Baseball.
This mentality and unity that was so apparent years ago, seems to completely elude the 2012 Twins. This year’s team misses the boisterous personalities of Doug Mientkiewicz and Michael Cuddyer. The team misses the leadership of Torii Hunter. While Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are tremendous athletes, for every bit they excel physically they lack in leadership ability.
In the early 2000s Gardenhire famously fostered a team that had a personality, a team that frequently instilled practical jokes and evoked an overall loose clubhouse. The aesthetically lackadaisical clubhouse mentality evolved into harnessed aggression on the field.
The 2002 Oakland A’s are much better documented in the novel and movie Moneyball but many fans forget that it was the 2002 Twins who knocked Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and the Moneyball crew in Oakland.
“When people told us we couldn’t do something, we proved them wrong,” Former first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz said. “And we took it personal. They called us a 4-A team, guys who were too good for Triple A but not good enough to play in the big leagues. That motivated us.”
Those slap-and-run Piranhas are gone; the years of the Twins rubbing their noses to “smell” in runs are over. In 2012 Twins fans are left with below average talent and what appears to be even further below average effort.
If the Twins hope to evade a 100-loss season this year it will not be a matter of having a more talented roster than its opponents. Any success the Twins hope to find will come in a searching of their roots. A few more suicide squeezes and shaving cream pies to the face may be the exact fuses this team so desperately needs to be lit. Ron Gardenhire needs to reacquire the nature of his team he was a part of ten short years ago. If he cannot do that with 55 million additional dollars in payroll than he had a decade ago, the Gardenhire and Piranha era may be finished for good.