The hated Yankees are hated. Hate hate hate. Plenty of hate to go around from any Minnesota Twins loyalist.
That being said, Alfonso Soriano and his exploits over the last two nights in New York got the BMTN braintrust up in arms. Soriano needs only three RBI to tie the record for most runs knocked in over a three game span in major league baseball history, according to ESPN Stats & Info. He has 13 in his last two games, looking to tie Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri, and Sammy Sosa for the three game record of 16 when he takes the field this afternoon against the Angels.
How does this relate to Minnesota? Great question. We set out to find records the Twins are on the verge of setting, or interesting facts in general, that span three of something. Three seasons, three games, three has to be involved, that was three references. There’s a fourth, damn.
Here’s the six most alarming ways the Twins could make franchise history by the end of the 2013 season.
Combined losses: 99 defeats in 2011, 96 defeats in 2012, and the club is on pace for 89 losses this year. Should they get to that mark, they will set a franchise record for most losses over a three year period in the 52 year history of the team. It is currently 283 (’97-’99), 89 losses would put them at exactly 284.
90 loss seasons: The Twins have only lost 90 games in three consecutive seasons once, and most of you remember when it was, in the late 90s (technically it was four seasons, 1997-2000) with the terrible squads that sent the likes of Ron Coomer to the All-Star Game. With September call-ups coming and young guys likely to see plenty of time with Ron Gardenhire’s club having nothing to play for, you can expect the losses to pile up in a quicker-than-expected fashion.
Last place finishes: On three separate occasions Minnesota has posted back-to-back last place finishes, but never have they been able to muster three bottom of the barrel end of season marks. This one is a long shot, with the Twins having a seven-and-a-half game lead over the White Sox for cellar dwelling position. September though, as said earlier, is a game changer, so keep this one on your radar.
Team batting average: It would take quite the offensive implosion, but a club that’s hitting .247 on the season is very capable of one considering they’re in a season-long hitting slump. .237 is the record for worst batting average for a Twins team, set in 1968, and if you took Joe Mauer out of the equation (only Twin hitting above .263, qualifying plate appearances or not), and the team is hitting just .231. Again, it would take a disastrous six weeks, but you never know.
(Notice the three threes in that last record, boom).
Team strikeouts: How about reaching three strikes the most in franchise history? After striking out 11 times yesterday, Minnesota’s offense has reached the four digit mark in strikeouts with 1,007 on the season. They’re on pace for 1,381 K’s, which would blow the previous mark out of the water, which stands at 1,121.
Andrew Albers: Positivity comes in the form of a man who has only been with the Twins for a few weeks. He has pitched 17 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball to start his career, the first pitcher in 50+ years to go 8+ innings in each of his first two career starts and not allow a run, and the sixth ever. The longest scoreless innings streak to start a career is held by Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler, who broke the previous MLB mark of 25 innings in 2008 (with Oakland at the time). He went on to set the new record at 39 innings, so Albers has quite a ways to go. He could, however, get to second on that list and set the bar for a starter, which is 25 innings held by George Mcquillan, who set the mark in 1907. Albers third start is Saturday evening at Target Field.
Strange history has already been made by the 2013 version of your favorite ballclub.
The Twins last 23 runs have all come via home run. @EliasSports tells us that's the longest such streak in major league history.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 14, 2013
Odd for the usually light hitting Twins, but let’s take history any way we can get it, and stay away from the loss records if we can.
