MAKE THE TWINS SEE DOUBLE
ROB SANFORD
It was 1987…when the Tigers and the Toronto Blue Jays slugged it out at Tiger Stadium for the division title. The Tigers won the series and the title, and now 22 years later, the 2009 edition of the Bengals are being called on to do the samething. The Twins lost one of their best players about 2 weeks ago, Justin Morneau. He and Joe Mauer combine to make one of the most potent combinations in all of baseball. You would think a loss of that magnitude might have spelled doom for Minnesota. It has not, in fact, since Morneau was shelved…the team has only gone 11 and 2. This team will not rattle easily, so the Tigers will have to come up with their best baseball of the season. Detroit is 48 and 26 at Comerica Park this year…so they will have that going for them. Oddly enough, the weather is supposed to be cool and windy….something that could help the Bengals as well. Remember, the Twins play in a Dome and for at least 81 games, and likely more….so playing in less than nice conditions could be a problem for them. As manager Jim Leyland is so fond of saying ….momentum goes only as far as the next day’s pitcher. Remember, the only way the Twins can still control their own destiny is if they take at least 3 out of the 4 games. Anything less than that…they would have to depend on the White Sox to help them out in the final 3 games of the season.