Game 1 of the best-of-five playoff series between the Twins and Yankees can’t come soon enough, but with five days before Friday’s first pitch the Twins can expect relentless jabbing from New York media.
In Monday’s New York Post, the Twins are referred to as “those wanna-be dragon-slayer Twins,” a theme that developed over the weekend after Twins President Dave St. Peter told SKOR North radio that it’s time for the Twins to break the playoff curse against the Yankees.
“Organizationally, I just say it’s time to slay the dragon, right. No time like the present to break that curse, so to speak,’’ St. Peter said.
The article then goes on to quote a ton of respectful comments Yankees GM Brian Cashman says about the Twins, only to wrap it up with: “Come out to watch the dragon breathe fire once again against the Twins.”
New York media might seem insufferable, but they have 15 years of data to support the bold approach. Remember, the Twins haven’t defeated anyone in a playoff game since beating the Yankees in Game 1 of the 2004 ALDS.
To be precise, that was Oct. 5, 2004. Friday’s Game 1 will be exactly 5,478 days since their last playoff victory. Sandwiched (loosely) in between are 13 consecutive playoff losses, 10 of them at the hands of the Yankees.
“We understand the history,” St. Peter added. “That’s my history. It isn’t [manager] Rocco Baldelli’s history. It certainly isn’t Nelson Cruz’s history. So I think that’ll be overblown.”
It’s also every Twins fan’s history, so overblown or not, it’ll resonate all week, series and for as long as it takes the Bomba Squad to overpower the Bronx Bombers.
