Byron Buxton’s eyes bulged when a reporter told him that the Minnesota Twins won a series for the first time since 2001. How could you blame him? Buxton was a child when Tom Kelly’s Twins last took a series from the Bronx Bombers. Derek Falvey was in his first year at Trinity College; Rocco Baldelli was toiling away at Single-A Charleston. Ron Gardenhire’s teams never did that, despite winning six division championships between 2002 and 2010. Paul Molitor didn’t have any better luck.
“I don’t even know how to put that in words,” said Buxton. “Twenty-two years. Twenty-two years? I was six! That’s the last time we won? This one felt extra good after hearing that, then. I don’t know. It’s kind of like having that monkey on the back. I know we talked about it a lot over the past few years about going to Yankee Stadium, playing the Yankees. It feels a lot like that monkey is off the back for sure now.”
The monkey is off their back – for now. There is a more significant, more ominous streak that lingers over their heads. The Twins have lost 18 straight playoff games, dating back to Johan Santana’s win at Yankee Stadium in 2004. It’s the longest postseason losing streak in North American professional sports history. The Yankees have handed them 13 of those losses. Minnesota last won a playoff series over the Moneyball A’s in 2002. Losing that many postseason games in a row is statistically improbable. Using the betting line for every game, the odds are over 1 in 28,000.
New York always beats the Twins because the Yankees are always good. It’s that simple. New York had 90 wins every year but one during Minnesota’s dominance over the AL Central from 2002 to 2010. The one down year? They had 89 in 2008. The Yankees won 91 games when they eliminated the Twins in the 2017 Wild Card game, and they had 103 when they swept the Bomba Squad in 2019. Minnesota is 40-101 against New York since 2002. Everyone who follows the Twins knows about the “Yankees curse.” That’s why taking the series means a lot to longtime fans. But it is kind of lost on the current players.
“I remember last time, there was — I don’t know, when we were in New York, they were playing some stuff on the TV before the game,” said Joe Ryan, who made a start in the Bronx and Target Field. “That was it. I don’t really know a whole lot. To be honest, I don’t really look at the history between organizations as much because the lineup turnover is so drastic. I feel like, that I’m not really that worried about it. I just try to focus on the game and not really get too much extra stuff into it regardless of the situation.”
The Yankees team that the Twins faced in April will be different than the team they would play in October. That’s assuming that Minnesota gets that far. Currently, the Twins are the only team above .500 in the AL Central, and they’ve already taken a season series from the Chicago White Sox. They’ll play the White Sox and face the Cleveland Guardians for the first time on their next homestand. It’s early, but we’ll have a good idea of where they stand in the division. If they can take the division, they’ll pick up where they left off – trying to survive in the playoffs against the best teams in the junior circuit.
The Twins have also taken a series against the Houston Astros, another early sign this team has recovered from two sub-.500 seasons. They also lost the series in Boston and against the struggling Washington Nationals. It’s early and hard to gauge how the season will go. Minnesota dominated the AL Central most of last season until they succumbed to injuries. Perhaps they can finish stronger with better pitching and a revamped medical staff. It’s a lot of speculation, making it unfortunate that we won’t see them play the Yankees later in the season to better understand how they match up.
It’s easy and arguably reasonable to be cynical about how this season will go. The Yankees eliminated Paul Molitor’s best team in 2017 and the Bomba Squad two years later. The Twins have been sub-.500 two years in a row after having World Series aspirations in 2021. Even though they took the season series, Minnesota lost the last two games in the Bronx and the final home game 12-6. Lasting impressions linger; they always will. But taking the season series from the Yankees shows that this team can overcome their postseason demons. To the extent they can in April, of course.
