Author: David Shama

After last night’s second consecutive loss to the Yankees in the ALDS the Twins are 0-7 all-time in playoff games against New York in Minneapolis.  The two teams resume their five game series in New York tomorrow night with the Twins down 2-0 and past stats don’t offer much encouragement to Minnesota.

There have been 61 series when a big league team has fallen behind 0-2 in a five-game playoff series and only seven times has the team come back to win the series 3-2.

The Twins do not have a come-from-behind win in their last 22 postseason games.  They have lost their last 11 playoff games, with the last win on October 5, 2004 at the Yankees in the first game of the ALDS.

Twins right fielder Jason Kubel is now hitting .080 (2-for-25) with 12 strikeouts in seven career postseason games (all against the Yankees).

New York’s Mariano Rivera earned his 41^st career postseason save last night.  He has never allowed the Twins a run in the postseason and given up eight hits to them in 15.2 innings pitched.

Memories of Randy Moss and his first stop with the Vikings include his off field work for St. Joseph’s Home for Children in Minneapolis.  Even after leaving here for Oakland and New England, Moss said he continued to buy Vikings tickets for use by children served by St. Joseph’s.

Another memory is Lou Holtz’s famous quote that Moss was the “best high school football player” he ever saw.

The Saint Paul Area Chamber of Commerce Minnesota Wild Face-Off Luncheon starts at 10 a.m. today at Xcel Energy Center.  Fans can watch a live telecast of the Wild’s game against Carolina from Finland, plus tour the Wild locker room and Al Shaver press box.  Former Wild players will also be present.  For more information, visit www.saintpaulchamber.com or call 651-223-5000.

Prior to the Wild’s exhibition game against Ilves Tampere earlier this week the teams exchanged gifts. The Wild presented a signed State of Hockey flag to the Finnish squad and received a framed flag that displayed the Ilves crest.

Donated items from the second annual used hockey equipment drive will be distributed to hockey associations and individuals at Xcel Energy Center from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Carolina defenseman and Edina native Jamie McBain competed against the Wild for the first time yesterday when the two teams played in Helsinki.  Wild center Matt Cullen was a member of Carolina’s 2006 Stanley Cup championship team.

Recently signed Wild goalie Jose Theodore is one of only five goalies to ever win the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player. Theodore won the award in 2002 with Montreal.

The Gophers hockey team is picked to finish fifth in the WCHA by the coaches and sixth by the media.  The Gophers are ranked No. 14 in the USAToday/USA Hockey Magazine and the USCHO/CBS polls. The No. 15 position ends a 10-year streak of the Gophers being ranked in the top 10 to begin the season.

The Gophers open their regular season tonight and tomorrow night at home against Massachusetts.  Minnesota coach Don Lucia is healthy again after recovering from sarcoidosis.

Concordia of St. Paul graduate Mary Slinger and Gustavus grad Melissa Mackley are two of the nine finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.  Slinger, a former volleyball player, is one of three Division II finalists.  There are also three finalists each from Divisions I and III including Mackley, a former Gustavus hockey player. The winners will be announced on October 17.

The Gustavus Athletics Department has chosen nine individuals for induction into its Athletics Hall of Fame.  The  inductees are Erik Allen  (basketball), Pete Anderson (golf), Leigh Stocker Berger (volleyball), Heidi Rostberg Carlson (tennis), Erik Hendrikson (football and hockey), Duke Paluch (tennis), Paige Tierney (soccer), Angela White (track and field), and Evie Cieslar Erdman (benefactor).  The group will be honored at the Athletics Hall of Fame Banquet tomorrow night in Alumni Hall on campus.

The Twins need to “kick in the door” against the Yankees starting tonight in their American League Division Series.  And what “door” is that?

The door to that exclusive club where the smug Yankees reside, having won seven of the past nine playoff games between the two teams.  The Yankees also hold a combined 11-2 advantage over the Twins in regular season games the last two seasons.

The Twins probably will tell you they belong with baseball’s big boys, but they have to show us in this series that they’re door busters.  Despite a regular season record of 94-68 and a Central Division title, the doubts remain.

Two of the four teams in the AL playoffs come from the East Division.  Both the division champion Rays (96-66) and Yankees (95-67) slightly bested the Twins’ record, but what’s controversial is how the Twins performed in their own Central Division versus the East.  Playing against not so impressive Central opponents the Twins were 47-25 but in the East they were 15-21.

The Rays were 42-20 in the East, a division acknowledged as baseball’s best.  The Yankees were 38-34 in the division.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, likely to be chosen American League manager of the year, is 6-18 lifetime in playoff games directing the Twins.  In the past he didn’t have the talent to win his way to the World Series.  Does he now?

In the Twins’ favor is that neither the Yankees nor Rays are classic post-season powerhouses.  The Yankees, just like the Twins, have questionable starting pitching depth.  The Twins are deeper in the bullpen, although even at age 40 New York’s Mariano Rivera is a closer to envy.

In addition to pitching, fielding is critical to determining a winner.  Gardenhire said on his KSTP Radio show Sunday he planned to fill his final roster spots with players that give him defense and speed.

He also acknowledged it’s “no fun” to win the division and go home. The World Series is the goal.  “If we don’t get there, we didn’t get it done,” he said.

In their five game series with the Yankees, the Twins will need to show whether they’re ready for baseball’s biggest “room” later this month.  If they have the right stuff, better plan on winning tonight’s game and Thursday’s, both at Target Field in front of those baseball crazy Homer Hanky fans.  Without a 2-0 series lead going to Yankee Stadium on Saturday, the Twins kick on the door might look more like a glancing blow.

Test your Twins playoff trivia knowledge with the following two questions (answers in last section of column):

Who was the Twins starting pitcher in the game three and final playoff loss last year to the Yankees?  What Twins hitter drove in the most runs in the 1987 World Series against St. Louis?

In the last 20 seasons only twice (1991 and 1992) have the Twins won the regular season series against the Yankees.

The Yankees are the pick to win this year’s ALDS by six of 10 ESPN.com experts. https://espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2010/matchup/_/teams/yankees-twins

Twins left fielder Delmon Young hit three home runs in his last nine regular season games, totaling five in September-October.  Young finished the season with a career high 21 home runs, and had a .298 batting average and 112 RBI, best on the team.

Twins center fielder Denard Span told KSTP Radio on Sunday morning that the “sky’s the limit” for Young.  Span said on the air he believes Young can hit 30 home runs and compared his potential with Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera who may win the 2010 American League MVP award.

Stubhub.com was listing Champions Club tickets with seats near home plate for $2,500.00 each on Monday.

The Big Ten could have six basketball teams in the top 25 of polls during the early weeks of the season this fall.  “The Big Ten is as deep as it’s been in a decade,” said Shon Morris who is a Big Ten Network analyst.

Morris told Sports Headliners that Orono’s Jon Leuer, who will be a senior for Wisconsin, might be the conference’s preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.

Toby Gerhart has played minimally in three games and hasn’t been impressive, but an NFL source predicted to Sports Headliners that the Vikings rookie will be an outstanding pro running back.

Vikings All-Pro rusher Adrian Peterson reportedly will earn $10.72 million next season.  Back in the mid-1960’s a starting running back for the Vikings made about $6,000.00.

The Vikings play the Jets in New York on Monday night, facing a team that had four players included on the Sporting News Magazine list of the NFL’s top 100 players.  In its September 13 issue the publication included New York cornerback Darrelle Revis (No.7), center Nick Mangold (No. 50) offensive tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson (No. 62) and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins (No. 85).

The Vikings, with seven selections, have more players on the list than any franchise, followed by the Ravens and Steelers at six each.  https://shamasportsheadliners.com/Archives/September%2015,%202010.htm

The 3-1 Jets have only one turnover in four games.  “That’s huge,” Vikings coach Brad Childress said.  “They don’t put themselves in trouble.”

Childress talking about what he looks for when his team is coming off a bye week: “It’s important that they have a fresh attitude, fresh outlook and that they come out here and don’t forget everything they knew before the bye. …”