The Minnesota Twins have made their way back to the playoffs and for the first time since 2019, there will be a packed crowd at Target Field eager to see Minnesota’s 18-game playoff losing streak come to an end.
But while the players on the field are going to be the focal point, The Athletic’s Dan Hayes believes that fans could play a major role – especially if they aren’t loud enough.
“The idea is to make your park that extra man on the field,” Hayes said in a back-and-forth with fellow Twins writer Aaron Gleeman. “Twins fans seem to struggle with this at times. Standing and shouting should not be discouraged.”
Hayes’s words seem to have merit considering that Target Field has been more of a bar than a ballpark throughout its history. The Twins have compiled a 1039-1126 (.479 winning percentage) overall record since Target Field opened in 2010 and there have been just three playoff games with fans* which were all losses to the New York Yankees.
There have also been other instances in Target Field history when it has resembled more of a church than a ballpark. In August 2019, a fan threw a mini donut at another fan who refused to sit down during a crucial moment of a game against the Cleveland Guardians.
The Twins were in the middle of a playoff hunt at that time and could be a catalyst to Hayes’s rant ahead of next week’s best-of-three American League Wild Card Series against the Toronto Blue Jays who – as Hayes notes – will likely bring a formidable contingent of fans to Target Field.
“This is the playoffs. You want to win? You want the losing streak to finally end? Make your voice loud enough to distract the Twins’ opponents,” Hayes wrote. “Players have clamored for this for years. This ‘down in front’ crap is just that, crap. You want to be at a playoff game, regardless of what you paid, plan to be part of a playoff atmosphere and not just Minnesota Nice. What happened to the days of the Metrodome and providing an edge?”
Hayes’s comments immediately drew a response from KFAN’s Justin Gaard, who blamed the team’s lack of offense for the silent crowd during the Twins’ 5-1 loss in Game 3 of the 2019 ALDS, but Locked On Twins host Brandon Warne defended Hayes, saying that Twins fans need to bring it all game, and not just in the first three innings.
I was at Game 3 against the Yankees in 2019…the last real home playoff game if I remember correctly. The fans were absolutely not the issue, place was on fire and the team no-showed offensively. pic.twitter.com/YSXJ1M7AcO
— Justin Gaard (@Gaardsy) September 29, 2023
The issue is that you can’t just be hot for three innings. That’s what they did. Then they started leaving after the seventh inning stretch in a game that was by no means out of reach. Embarrassingly bad. https://t.co/6jgJkRk7qy
— Brandon Warne (@formerly_bw) September 29, 2023
On the one hand, you can’t blame Twins fans for becoming apathetic during what has been the longest postseason losing streak of any major men’s team in the history of North American sports. Every time the Twins appear to break through, something bad happens such as Phil Cuzzi calling Joe Mauer’s double a foul ball during the 2009 ALDS or starting Randy Dobnak in Game 2 of Yankee Stadium 10 years later.
The 2019 series against the Yankees came after the venerated “Bomba Squad” finished the season 101-61 only to get smashed in the first two games of the series in New York, and then for the bats to disappear entirely in what would prove to be the only game at Target Field, losing 5-1.
The Twins’ past combined with their current state as winners of a lousy American League Central may have some eager to torment the “Pohlad Pocket Protectors” or say “I was right!” the moment the Twins fell behind in a playoff game.
But it didn’t used to be this way. The Twins owned a 11-1 record at the Metrodome on their way to winning the World Series in 1987 and 1991 and during the Twins’ last extended playoff run in 2002, they faced an elimination scenario in Game 4 of the ALDS.
After the Twins fell behind 2-0 on Miguel Tejada’s two-run homer in the third inning, the crowd continued to set the tone as the Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the third to tie the game and scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth to break it open en route to an 11-2 victory. The Twins went on to defeat Oakland in Game 5 and advanced to their first ALCS since 1991.
Years of playoffs failures (from the Twins and other Minnesota sports teams) have hardened the fan base since then, but the Twins have an opportunity to erase that with one win next week.
That should be enough reason for fans to bring everything they have, but if something goes wrong, the Homer Hankies won’t be the only thing flying through the air at Target Field.
* The Twins played a best-of-three series Wild Card series with the Houston Astros in 2020, but fans were not allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
