Olde Man’s Tavern: Gardy’s Place

I got to admit this. In only my second week of having a weekly column, I was fumbling and grasping for content. A subject. Anything. Not like me at all either. I always have something to say. Just ask everyone who knows me.

I say that because I initially had a subject that I thought was a great one. Then it hit me. I suggested to Wally that we make this place into a tavern. Each week, we’ll visit a different major league baseball city and check up on a few people. Last week, we visited Pete Rose in Cincinnati. This week’s journey takes us to the Twin Cities and the Minnesota Twins.

I present to you, the manager of the of the back-to-back American League Central Division Champion Minnesota Twins, Ron Gardenhire

It amazes me that year after year, the Twins just play winning baseball. And Gardenhire gladly slinks into baseball oblivion. He doesn’t long for the accolades. He doesn’t long for the attention. It’s not in his makeup. He does so out of love for baseball. He does so to teach young players how to develop into major leaguers and become good men. No manager has a bigger signature over a whole organization than Ron Gardenhire. You visit any minor league affiliate and that team is practicing and preaching Gardy’s principles.

Soapbox, please….

(Ahem)

If Ron Gardenhire is once again snubbed as the American League Manager of the Year, the award should never be handed out again. Thank you…

I assume Twins fans are applauding at this moment…and they should. For the most part, it’s been only the Twins fans that have completely appreciated their manager. Add me to the list.

We hear all too often that Tony LaRussa in St. Louis, Bobby Cox in Atlanta and even Terry Francona in Boston are among the best skippers in baseball. I wholeheartedly disagree. In the same timeframe, LaRussa has won a World Series title and five NL Central crowns. Cox’s Atlanta Braves haven’t visited the playoffs since 2005 and in his last nine years, Cox does own four NL East titles. Francona has been at the helm in Boston for now his seventh year, has two World Series rings, but only one divisional title. I know, rings matter…

For the first half of this season, if I held an actual vote, I would have given AL MoY to Boston’s Francona. All the injuries the Sawx had and still found themselves playing relatively good baseball was all the proof I needed at that time. I was suckered in by the big city mentality. The old “major market” hysteria. I’ve completely changed my tune. A total and unabashed 180 degree turn. Gardy’s my guy now.

And 2010 is not the only time in Gardenhire’s nine years that he’s lead a team with a couple of stars and a cast of few names into the postseason. It’s almost a yearly event. For the nine years as the skipper in Minny, Gardenhire was won six divisional titles including this season. Six in nine years. Simple math. Two-thirds of the time, the Twins win the division. Not simply make the playoffs, WIN THE FREAKIN’ DIVISION. For his tenure, Minnesota is 801-648 not including last night’s game. That’s a winning percentage of .553. The Twins average finish in the AL Central standings is a gaudy 1.6.

Look at what the Twins have gone through just this season…

One of MLB’s premier closers, Joe Nathan, goes down and needs Tommy John surgery. In usual Gardenhire fashion, he simply plugs another into the role in Jon Rauch. Rauch was ablaze at the beginning of the season, but slightly fizzled. The issue, too many hits. Oh, wait. We’ll deal a top-notch prospect in Wilson Ramos to Washington and secure Matt Capps. I know this went over like a lead balloon in the Twin Cities. Doesn’t look like such a bad deal now, does it?

But changing closers in the middle of season is practically a baseball faux pas. You don’t do that if you’re in a pennant race. You do that if you’re already out of the playoff picture. Let Gardy manage his guys…

Justin Morneau hasn’t seen the field as a player since July 7th. He was recently placed on the 60-day disabled list suffering from still lingering effects of a concussion. The AL 2006 MVP (and a runner-up finish the following year) is completely unavailable. Yet, the Twins win.

And let’s not forget the 2010 trials of last year’s MVP Joe Mauer. Mauer owns two Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers, four All-Star game nods. He is currently nursing a bum knee and will most likely be out at least another five days. Mauer’s been playing through the pain, but his power numbers have significantly decreased.

A premier closer…gone. A former MVP…gone. Last year’s MVP…banged up and on the shelf for about a week. No worries. Take Michael Cuddyer and put him at first (just like last year). Insert Jason Kubel (for the most part) in right and put a future Hall of Famer and free agent steal at DH in Jim Thome.

And the starting staff took a hit, too. Scott Baker was down for about three weeks this month. Kevin Slowey was also shut down for a couple of weeks. Nick Blackburn was sent to the minors and was recently announced as being the #4 guy in the Twins postseason starting rotation. Gardenhire moved Brain Duensing from the pen to the rotation on July 23rd. Since that move, Duensing is 7-1 with a 2.43 ERA and a WHIP of 1.149. That paid off as Duensing is the #3 guy for the Twins. Again, lose a guy and Gardy finds another.

But if you really want to see how Ron Gardenhire can impact a player, look nowhere else but to Twins left fielder Delmon Young.

The Twins acquired Young in a deal in November of 2007. Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pirdie came from Tampa Bay and Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett and Eduardo Morlan went to the Rays. The younger brother of Dmitri Young was the first overall pick in 2003 and there was already chatter of the immense talent Young possessed. Lose an arm, gain a bat. But there was another side of Young that the baseball world had not yet seen.

In a Double-A game for Tampa affiliate Montgomery, Young was involved in a confrontation with an umpire. Delmon bumped the ump and was handed a three-game suspension. The incident Young is most known for occurred in April of 2006 when Young disagreed with a strike call and refused to leave the batter’s box. After about a half a minute, Young finally left, but was ejected after being told to leave the box and not leaving in a timely manner. In his anger, he flipped his bat toward the umpire, striking the ump. After a lengthy evaluation of the event, Young was handed a fifty (yes, 5-0) game suspension by the International League.

Did you think that concerned Gardenhire? I’m not a resident in Minneapolis or St. Paul, but I feel as though the minor outbursts concerned a few fans. Not for the Twins skipper. He most likely viewed the opportunity to coach Young as just that, an opportunity to coach Young and maybe even teach him about the game of baseball along the way. It has been flawless since. Young is clearly on the cusp of stardom and Gardenhire is the reason. He not only coaches his guys, he mentors them. And if you’re not a Twins fans, I’ll give you three guesses who leads the team in RBI. Not Mauer. Not Cuddyer. Not Kubel. It’s none other than Delmon Young.

It’s more than “running a team” in Minnesota. It’s making a mark on a player’s life that separates Ron Gardenhire from all other managers.

And baseball needs all the Ron Gardenhire’s it can amass.