In some major league baseball towns a losing record fuels speculation that the manager will be fired.  Not in Minneapolis, though, where the Twins have stuck with two managers since 1986 after Tom Kelly took over for Ray Miller during that season. There have been championship seasons and last place finishes but team ownership and management have employed just Kelly from 1986-2001 and Ron Gardenhire starting with the 2002 season.

Gardenhire has won four Central Division titles in six years.  Last year was his worst record, 79-83, and now with a starting pitching staff that could disappoint the 2008 season might be even darker.  Won’t matter, though; in good times and bad, the Twins stand by their man.

Gardenhire is second in seniority among American League managers to Mike Scioscia of the Angels, according to www.wikipedia.org.  Only Bobby Cox of the Braves and Tony La Russa of the Cardinals have managed teams in the National League longer than Gardenhire has been leading the Twins.

Team president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners it’s the philosophy of the Pohlad family ownership and top management to hire “good people,” provide support, and let individuals like Gardenhire do their jobs in successful and not so successful times.  Part of the mantra, too, is to hire and promote from within.  St. Peter said all the present Twins coaches, and Gardenhire, came up through the minor league system.

Gardenhire, headed into his seventh season, is tied for second in Twins’ managerial  longevity with Sam Mele.  Gardenhire is already second in all-time wins with 534. Kelly managed for part or all of 16 seasons under Pohlad ownership.  His overall record was 1,140 wins, 1240 losses.  Although he won two World Series championships, he lost more total games than he won, an indication of the organization’s patience.

St. Peter expressed admiration for what Gardenhire has accomplished since replacing Kelly who no longer wanted to manage. “He has in a very short amount of time developed a reputation I think as one of the game’s best managers,” he said.

An outsider is immediately impressed with Gardenhire’s upbeat and friendly personality, but there is a will and determination to win and do things correctly that is equally evident.  “I think his personality is…certainly somewhat fun loving, but at the same time he can be tough when he needs to be tough,” St. Peter said. “And he certainly demands that his players respect the game and play the game the right way.  And those are things that the Twins’ organization are known for throughout the game.”

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Twins president Dave St. Peter said that during the last several years Tom Kelly has declined opportunities to discuss managerial jobs with other organizations.  Kelly is a special assistant to general manager Bill Smith.  Kelly’s responsibilities include visiting all the Twins’ minor league teams, evaluating players, coaches and managers, St. Peter said.

The Minnesota Wild players and coaches can only criticize themselves if they don’t make the playoffs.  With 10 games remaining on the regular schedule, all but one game is against opponents from their Northwest Division.  The lone exception is a game at San Jose on Wednesday night.

The Wild are at home tonight (Monday) against Colorado.  Then they have four consecutive games on the road, San Jose, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton.  Four of the last five games are at home with Edmonton, Vancouver, Colorado and Calgary before Minnesota closes the season at Colorado on April 6.  The Wild record is 11-9-3 against Northwest Division teams.

Wild forward Marian Gaborik, who scored his 200^th career goal in Saturday night’s win over Los Angeles, has 36 for the season and is tied for sixth among NHL leaders.

In a Sports Illustrated poll, NHL players chose Gaborik as the league’s best skater.  Scott Niedermayer of Anaheim and Sidney Crosby of Pittsburgh were second and third in the poll published in the magazine’s March 17 issue.

Xcel Energy Center ends a busy run on Saturday that started on March 13. The facility is in use every night with hockey, lacrosse and music attractions.  Over 200,000 fans are expected with a potential economic impact in St. Paul of $2 million or more, according to sources.  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at Xcel last night.  Bon Jovi is entertaining tomorrow evening and Wednesday night.

Former Viking Mewelde Moore, now with Pittsburgh, will play a similar role with the Steelers as he did here, returning kicks and playing as a backup running back, according to the Sporting News.

Newly signed free agent Viking linebacker Derrick Pope is expected to be a reserve and special teams player, although the five-year NFL veteran did start a career high nine games for Miami last season.

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Tubby Smith’s team just might earn its first signature win of the season tonight in a quarterfinal Big Ten Conference Tournament game against No. 20 nationally ranked Indiana.  While the Gophers improved from 3-13 in the Big Ten Conference and 9-22 overall last year to 8-10 and 19-12 this season, Minnesota has yet to defeat a top 25 team at home or on the road.  After yesterday’s opening tournament win over Northwestern, a disappointing 55-52 performance, the Gophers are at least a decent bet to stun the Big Ten world by defeating the Hoosiers, 14-4 and 25-6 overall.

Minnesota is likely to play with more inspiration and sharpness against the Hoosiers. Why? Among the reasons is it’s not easy defeating another team three times in one season when there’s competitive balance between the two rosters.  Just look at yesterday’s game where the Gophers, who had twice defeated Northwestern by 19 and 20 points, were so ragged in the first half they trailed 34-21.  That’s a Northwestern team that was 1-17 during the regular season.

The Gophers forced Indiana into a night of turnovers (26) in Minneapolis during a January game and should have beaten the Hoosiers, instead losing 60-55.  Earlier this month, the Gophers were playing Indiana within two points with about six minutes to play when the Hoosiers opened up a lead and won 69-55.

Indiana has the conference player of the year in rugged forward D.J. White who helped lead the Hoosiers in offensive rebounding but otherwise they aren’t a physical team, the type that bothers the soft Gophers (see two losses to mediocre Illinois).  If the Gophers can minimize White’s inside scoring and rebounding, their chances of winning soar.

Go ahead and ponder, too, the Hoosiers psyche after the University asked head coach Kelvin Sampson to resign last month after alleged NCAA infractions.  Sampson’s departure didn’t sit well with Hoosier players and their play has been less than impressive since.  Indiana is 3-2 since Sampson left, suffering a 103-74 loss at Michigan State and losing in overtime to mediocre Penn State, 68-64.

For the Gophers to win, senior guard Lawrence McKenzie, a third team all-Big Ten pick, probably has to score about 20 points.  When McKenzie has been a closer, the Gophers have been at their best (see the road victory at Iowa State and home wins against Michigan and Ohio State).  He’s been seen making three pointers almost as far away as University Avenue and is the Gophers’ best hope to finish a game when a reliable point producer is needed.

The senior trio of McKenzie, forward Dan Coleman and center Spencer Tollackson has collectively been just okay this season.  No doubt two of the three will need to have big games for the Gophers to win tomorrow and advance to the conference semi-finals on Saturday.  Tollackson has struggled in March games this season with three points against Ohio State, zero at Indiana and nine at Illinois.  Yesterday against Northwestern he injured his left ankle early in the game and didn’t score.

Indiana has an advantage playing in Indianapolis but the Gophers could quiet the crowd with a sharp performance, plus it will be a whole lot easier playing in Indy than it was in Bloomington. The Hoosiers might be favored by six points or so for the 8 p.m. game (telecast on the Big Ten Network).

With the Gophers likely headed toward the NIT, this will be a final opportunity for a signature win.  Otherwise, as they say in baseball, it’s wait until next year.

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