Ache #15: Michigan 58 Minnesota 0

Not really to much to say about this one. The final score says it all, other than the fact that it could have been much worse. Which is saying a lot because it's already the largest Big Ten loss in Gopher history.

Michigan leads the all-time series between these two teams 75-25-3 including winning 41 of  45 meetings dating back to 1968.

The Gophers were 1-3 heading into the Big Ten Opener, one week after a loss to FCS North Dakota State at TCF Bank Stadium. It couldn't get more embarassing for Gopher fans than that, right?

Wrong.

Michigan welcomed first year head coach Jerry Kill and the Gophers to the Big House on October 1st, 2011 and, in front of a crowd of 111,000 strong, proceeded to annihilate the Gophers.

But perhaps annihilate is too nice of a word.

Michigan dominated in all aspects of the game. It was Michigan's first Big Ten shutout since 2001, and their first shutout of any opponent since 2007. Michigan outgained Minnesota 580-177. Junior running back Vincent Smith had touchdowns rushing, passing and receiving on Michigan's first four drives.

Vincent Smith (2) had 72 all purpose yards and

3 TDs in the first half

Denard Robinson was 15-19 for 169 yards and 2 TDs along with 53 rushing yards and a TD before being pulled after jumping out to a 38-0 halftime lead. Backup running back Fitzgerald Toussaint had 108 yards and a touchdown, freshman Thomas Rawls had 73 yards rushing, and senior Michael Shaw added 60 yards on the ground. The Wolverines gained 10 or more yards on 18 different plays. 

QB Max Shortell was 11-22 for 121 yards against Michigan

On their way to shutting out the Gophers, the Michigan defense didn't allow a Minnesota first down in the opening quarter, and only gave up four in the first half.

The Gophers were in a great position to score and break the shut out before a David Cobb fumble was returned 83 yards for a touchdown by Courtney Avery.

While the numbers were ugly, the outcome was much worse. The 58-point rout was only the third worse loss in Gophers history, because the Wolverines took their foot off the gas.

Ache #14: The 2017 NHL Expansion Draft

In 2017, the NHL was expanding from 30 to 31 teams with the addition of the Las Vegas Golden Knights. It was the NHL's first expansion since 2000 when the Columbus Blue Jackets and Minnesota Wild entered the league.

With an expansion franchise, comes an expansion draft and one player being plucked from every roster in the league.

Minnesota lost two.

In the 2000 expansion draft, the 28 NHL teams were allowed to protect nine forwards, five defencemen and one goalie or two goalies, three defensemen and seven forwards. But in this expansion draft, teams were only allowed to protect seven forwards, three defencemen and one goaltender or one goaltender and eight skaters regardless of position.

Teams had to expose at least two forwards and one defenceman that had played at least 40 games in 2016-17 or more than 70 games in 2015-16 and 2016-17 combined. Teams were also required to protect players with No Move Clauses in their contracts.

The Wild were in a tough spot. It had to protect Jason Pominville (who had a NMC). One of the players that was left unprotected was Eric Stall (who scored 42 goals for the Wild in 2017-18). The Wild also had an outstanding core of young talent (Matt Dumba, Charlie Coyle, Jonas Brodin, Mikael Granlund and Las Vegas native Jason Zucker)

After months of speculation, the Wild protected Pominville, Brodin, Coyle, Zucker, Granlund, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Devan Dubnyk, and Nino Niederreiter.

Jason Pominville scored 30 goals in his first full 

season with the Wild, but only 42 in his next 235 games

This left players like Dumba, Eric Staal, Marco Scandella, Darcy Kuemper and Erik Haula exposed.

Wild fans were nervous that Dumba would be the one selected. Dumba was a first round pick by the Wild in 2012 and was regarded as one of the best young defensemen in the game. George McPhee was willing to pass over Dumba for a forward as long as they got a prospect in return.

Matt Dumba stayed in Minnesota on Expansion

Draft Night

The player McPhee liked was Haula, who had spent most of the previous season on Minnesota's fourth line. Haula, a 7th round pick in the 2009 Draft out of the University of Minnesota, was coming off a season in which he scored a career-high 15 goals for the Wild, while averaging just under 14 minutes a game.

While McPhee was concentrating on building a franchise, Wild GM Chuck Fletcher was trying to protect his. He knew that, logically, one of his young defensemen would likely be taken. But he wanted to try and trade one of them for some forward help, while trying to clear some salary cap space.

Fletcher accomplished each of those things. After Las Vegas eventually passed on a Wild defenseman, Fletcher traded Marco Scandella and Jason Pominville (and his salary) to Buffalo for forwards Marcus Foligno and Tyler Ennis (both of whom were protected by the Sabres).

For Vegas, the one piece left in the puzzle was the prospect the Wild would send them to not take Dumba or Scandella. Three names were at the top of their list: Jordan Greenway, Kirill Kaprizov and Alex Tuch.

Minnesota send 2014 first round pick Tuch to complete the deal.

Tuch appeared in six games for MIN with a +/- of -3

Tuch played in his first full NHL season for the Golden Knights and scored 15 goals. Haula went on to score 29 in 76 games, nearly doubling his 2016-17 total. It's worth noting Foligno and Ennis combined for 16.

Chuck Fletcher got inside his own head on this one. Not only did he give up two players to protect one, but he didn't realize what he had in Eric Haula. Why wasn't Haula putting up near-30 goal seasons with the Wild? The previous season, Fletcher decided he had to trade three draft picks (including a first) for Martin Hanzel and Ryan White. Then Bruce Boudreau gave Hanzel more ice time than Haula.

The Wild had Haula and wasted him, then willingly gave him away plya another pretty good forward to boot.

To put more salt in the wound: Haula, Tuch and the Las Vegas Knights became the first expansion team to win their division and reach the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Wild's postseason struggles continued as they lost in the first round of the playoffs for the third consecutive year.

Ache #13: Winter Storm Xanto

Minnesota is proud of their "great, white North" heritage. From freezing Vikings games at The Met and TCF Bank Stadium, to frozen 5Ks, polar plunges and various winter celebrations the cold and the snow are part of Minnesota culture.

But not so much for baseball.

"Spring" 2018 was unseasonably cold, wrecking havoc across the baseball landscape. The New York Yankees, Mets and Detroit Tigers all had their home openers snowed out. Detroit had six of their first twelve home games rescheduled due to weather.

But the worst was still coming.

Winter Storm Xanto hit the the Midwest Friday April 13th 2018 and dumped 15-22 inches of snow in the Metro Area in Minnesota. The Twins had a four game series against the Chicago White Sox scheduled the 12th thru the 15th. 

The fountain (and literally everything else) froze

at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City

The one game the Twins played was a 4-0 win over the southsiders on Thursday the 12th. The other three games were all postponed due to the snow.

And that begs the question that sparked a debate across Twins Territory: should Target Field have been built with a retractable roof like Milwaukee?

One click of a button, and no snow-outs in Milwaukee

The coldest game played at Target Field was April 17 2014 with a temperature of 31 degrees at first pitch. The Milwaukee Brewers played at home the same day, but nobody inside Miller Park made a big deal about the snow until they went to their cars and realized the roads home were covered in snow and ice. Inside the stadium during game time, it was a balmy 62 degrees.

Rain outs and snow outs are a part of baseball. During Xanto, the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs played a game in 38 degree weather, 24 MPH winds, snow and sleet. But nobody is demanding Wrigley Field be rebuilt with a roof.

Every single time there’s a rainout (or a snow out), people complain because the Twins used to have the Metrodome. Rain or shine, you could count on the game being played in the Dome and everyone was happy. Except, The Dome was ugly. We had to crane our necks because home plate was 70° off to the side. Fly balls were lost in the white roof and ground balls bounced over defenders or raced past them at breakneck speed. It was not a pleasant experience for anyone involved, unless you came from North Dakota, because at least your trip to the Twin Cities to see the Twins came to fruition because you were able to watch the Twins.

Though there were discussions to put a retractable roof on the new ballpark, it was ultimately decided that it would be an open-air stadium. The space where Target Field was built used to be a parking lot, meaning the ballpark had to be tiny.

Literally, a parking lot

(Source: www.twinsballpark2010.com)

Not only would a retractable roof cost tax payers more money, but there wasn't really any place to put it because of the size crunch the stadium was already in with their construction site.

The original design of Target Field did include a retractable roof, 

But, as terrible as the weather was (for everyone) during Winter Storm Xanto, there probably aren't many Twins fans that would trade a couple more games in early April for a view like this:

Ache #12: Leo Hayden

If you're a die-hard Vikings fan and have never heard of Leo Hayden, there's a good reason for it.

The Minnesota Vikings won the 1970 NFC Central championship with a 12-2 record. However, they weren't able to make it back to the Super Bowl after being upset in the first round of the playoffs by the San Francisco 49ers, 14-17.

The Purple People Eater Defense was thriving. The offense wasn't.

Quarterback Gary Cuozzo had taken over as signal called after Pro Bowler Joe Kapp signed with the Boston Patriots. In 1970, Cuozzo completed less than 50% of his passes for 1,720 yards, 7 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Backup Bob Lee was 2-0 as a started with 610 yards and 5 touchdowns and 5 picks.

The running game wasn't much better. Dave Osborn led the attack out of the backfield with 681 yards and five touchdowns on 207 carries. Clint Jones added nine touchdowns out of the backfield while splitting time with Boom Boom Brown.

The offensive line was there with future Hall of Famers Mick Tinglehoff and Ron Yary. The defense was loaded with talent and only gave up 200 yards per game. The offense was inconsistent, averaging about 272 yards per game. 

The Vikings needed a dynamic play maker. 

And they thought they found him in the 1971 NFL Draft.

Leo Hayden was a backup running back during his time at Ohio State, but when he was on the field, he flashed brilliance. Taking carries behind Big John Brockington (who was selected 9th overall by Green Bay in 1971), Hayden ranked seventh in the Big 10 in Yards From Scrimmage (787) and first in Rushing Yards Per Attempt (5.8). He scored three touchdowns on the ground that season as well.

John Brockington (42) and Leo Hayden combined for 20 rushing

touchdowns for the National Champion Buckeyes in 1970.

Brockington had 17 of them.

With the first pick in the 1971 NFL Draft, the Boston Patriots selected quarterback Jim Plunkett (they were 2-12 with Joe Kapp that year). Pro Bowlers Archie Manning, Dan Pastorini, JD Hill, Frank Lewis, Isiah Robertson and John Brockington and Hall of Famer John Riggins all went in the top 10. The offense-needy Vikings watched the top quarterbacks go one-two-three and saw five running backs go off the board before they picked at 24. So maybe Hayden was a panic pick and felt the need to grab somebody. The fact of the matter was that the Vikings needed to improve on their abysmal 3.2 YPC from 1970.

It's also worth noting Hall of Famers Jack Ham and Dan Dierdorf were still on the board, both selected in the second round. Pro Bowl caliber quarterbacks like Ken Anderson, Joe Theismann, and Lynn Dickey still available as well.

To say Hayden's Vikings career was underwhelming would be a dramatic understatement. 

Hayden appeared in seven games for the Vikings in 1971, finishing the season with exactly zero touches. In 1972, he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. His stats from 1972: 8 carries for 11 yards and a touchdown, good for 1.4 yards per carry. He also added one catch for 17 yards. In 1973, he was on kick return duty for the Cards, returning five kicks for 98 yards.

In 1974, he was out of the league.

Ache #11: The 1981 Stanley Cup Finals

Now in their 14th season in the NHL, the North Stars had finally built a contending team.

The 1980-81 North Stars were looking to build off their then-franchise record 88 points from the previous season. Prior to their 88 point season, they had missed the playoffs five times in six seasons. With a rebuild beginning with 1978 #1 overall pick Bobby Smith, the 1981 team boasted a lot of young talent (Steve Payne, Dino Ciccarelli, Don Beaupre, Tom McCarthy, Craig Hartsburg, Curt Giles) with a couple of veteran guys sprinkled in (Gilles Meloche, Paul Shmyr, Fred Barrett), GM Lou Nanne had a team built for the future.

And the future was now.

Steve Payne scored 30 goals for Minnesota in 1980-81

A year after losing in the conference semi-finals to Philadelphia 4-1, the North Stars had their eyes set on the next level: the Stanley Cup Finals. They finished one point shy of matching their 1979-80 point total with 87 total points (35-28-17), which tied them with the Boston Bruins for second place in the Adams Division. They drew the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs for the first and only playoff match up between the two teams.

The 1980-81 NHL Playoff seeding. Teams were reseeded after each round

PRELIMINARY ROUND VS BOSTON:

When these two teams played the previous February, these two teams battled at Boston Garden for a game that resulted in a combined 406 penalty minutes. Minnesota won Game One at Boston Garden (they were 0-35 all-time in Boston up to that point) in large part to a Steve Payne hat trick. In Game Two, the North Stars blew them out 9-6. In Game Three back at the Met Center, Minnesota scored four first-period goals in a 6-3 win, sweeping the hated Bruins out of the playoffs.

Yeah...these guys didn't like each other...
This is what 392 penalty minutes looks like

QUARTERFINAL ROUND VS BUFFALO: 

After reseeding the field, Minnesota drew the Adams division winner Buffalo in the quarterfinals. These two teams had met one other time in the playoffs...a two-game sweep by Buffalo in 1977. Minnesota won Game One 4-3 in OT courtesy of a Steve Payne winner with :22 seconds left. Minnesota also won Game Two at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. The series shifted back to the Met Center. Minnesota won Game Three 6-4. After trailing in Game Four 3-0, the North Stars scored three quick goals (Ciccarelli, Christoff, Payne) in the second period to tie the game before losing in OT 5-4. Minnesota closed out the series in Game Five 4-3 to advance to the semifinals.

SEMIFINAL ROUND VS CALGARY

Through the first two playoff series, Minnesota was 6-1. The Calgary Flames were just as much of a surprise in the playoffs as the North Stars were. Entering the tournament as a 7 seed, they swept the Chicago Black Hawks and then upset Philadelphia in Seven Games in the Quarterfinals. The teams split the first two games at Stampede Corral. The North Star's offense exploded in Games Three and Four, scoring 13 goals in the two games with Ciccarelli's hat trick in Game Four. Flames goalie Pat Riggin, who had 41 saves (on 47 shots....) in the games at the Met calmed down in Game 6, allowing only one goal to the North Stars on 34 shots in a 3-1 Flames win to force a Game 6 back in Bloomington. The North Stars advanced to their first ever Stanley Cup after a 5-3 win at the home.

Rookie winger Dino Ciccarelli scored a rookie-record 14 goals (in 19 games)

in the 1981 playoffs

STANLEY CUP FINALS vs NEW YORK ISLANDERS

The North Stars faced their toughest test for the Stanley Cup...the defending champion New York Islanders. NYI had a pretty smooth path to the finals...a sweep of Toronto in the prelims and a sweep of the rival Rangers in the semis. The only team that gave them trouble was Wayne Gretzky, Jari Kurri, Glenn Anderson, Mark Messier and the Edmonton Oilers. Edmonton took them to 6 games and was the only road team to win at Nassau Coliseum during the tournament.

Games One and Two were at Nassau, and the Islanders won them both by identical 6-3 scores. A sold-out Met Center welcomed the North Stars back for Game Three. The Stars played great hockey at home as well, having gone 5-1 at home, with their one loss coming in overtime to Buffalo. 

Minnesota led 3-1 after the first period after goals from Christoff, Payne and Smith. But, in the second, Butch Goring scored two of his three goals that game, and Bobby Nystrom added another. Mike Bossy also tallied two goals in a game that ended in an Islanders win, 7-5.

Game Four was at the Met Center, too. After Gilles Meloche gave up six goals in Game Three, North Stars head coach put rookie Don Beaupre between the pipes. Beaupre responded by stopping 33 of 35 shots in a 4-2 North Stars win.

That would be the only Stanley Cup Finals loss the Islanders would suffer the rest of their dynasty.

C Butch Goring had five goals (seven points) in the five game series,

including a hat trick in Game Two.

In Game Five back in Long Island, Goring netted two goals in the first period as the North Stars failed to show up. New York won the game 5-1, capturing the second Stanley Cup in what would be a four-year Islanders dynasty as the North Stars became a footnote in Islanders history.

Ache #10: 2017-18 Gopher Hockey Misses The Postseason

Minnesota is the State of Hockey. The state high school hockey championship attendance dwarfs that of NHL teams. There are five DI hockey programs in the state with easily the most talent.

But sometimes, things don't line up the way they should.

The 2017-18 Minnesota Gophers Men's Hockey team was a shoe-in to make the NCAA Tournament. In the middle of February, the team was ranked #8 in the country after beating and tying Ohio State and were on a 6-1-1 stretch. The Gophers lost their last two regular season games to Penn State, and then drew the Nittany Lions again to open the Big Ten Tournament.

The Nittany Lions won the three-game series 2-0, ending the Gophers chances at an automatic NCAA Tournament bid. The Gophers were outscored 21-11 in the four games.

The Gophers were now score-board watchers. After North Dakota beat Minnesota Duluth (the 2018 NCAA Men's Hockey champion), the Gophers were up to #12 in the rankings...the final spot for at-large bid.

There were six conference tournament games left to determine the majority of the 12 at-large teams for the tournament. Minnesota needed one of these teams to win to make the field: Providence (Hockey East), Clarkson (ECAC), Robert Morris (Atlantic Hockey), Northern Michigan (WCHA), St. Cloud State (NCHC) and Ohio State (Big Ten).

Just one of those team winning any of their respective championships would have put the Gophers in the Top 12.

Here are the scores from those conference championship games:

HOCKEY EAST:

Providence- 0

Boston College - 2

ECAC:

Clarkson- 1

Princeton - 2 F/OT (Clarkson tied the game with 7 seconds left in regulation)

ATLANTIC HOCKEY:

Robert Morris - 1

Air Force - 5

WCHA:

Michigan Tech - 2

Northern Michigan - 0

NCHC:

St. Cloud State - 1

Denver - 4

BIG TEN:

Ohio State - 2

Notre Dame - 3 F/OT

All six teams lost. The last result to come in, an OT winner by Notre Dame's Cam Mortenson 9:23 into the extra period, gave Notre Dame an automatic berth into the tournament and ended the dreams of the Gophers. The final PairWise rankings for the 2018 NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament:

1.  St. Cloud State

2.  Notre Dame

3.  Denver

4.  Cornell

5.  Ohio State

6.  MSU-Mankato

7.  Providence

8.  Northeaster

9.  Clarkson

10. Michigan

11. Minnesota Duluth

12. Penn State

13. Boston University

14. North Dakota (did not make tournament)

15. Minnesota (did not make tournament)

Teams that did not crack the Top 20:

Air Force (automatic bid)

Michigan Tech (automatic bid)

Gopher Head Coach Don Lucia stepped following the season after 19 years as head coach. Lucia had coached the Gophers to NCAA championships in 2002 and 2003, but hadn't won an NCAA Tournament game the previous four seasons.

Ache #9: Royce White

The Gophers have a recent history of losing their best in-state recruits to outside schools. Prospects like Cole Aldrich (Kansas), Tyus Jones (Duke) and Jon Leur (Wisconsin) all led their schools to the Final Four (Aldrich and Jones won NCAA championships), Gopher fans began pleading for the coaching staff and administration to start keep Minnesota's high school stars in state.

In 2009, fans got their wish.

Royce White, the Hopkins star that led the Royals to a perfect 31-0 season, was Mr. Basketball that season and committed to join the Gophers. The 6'8" White was ranked the 19th best player in the class fo 2009 on the Rivals.com board and was all set to join Hopkins hero Blake Hoffarber in maroon and gold the next season.

This Blake Hoffarber shot, which won an Espy, may 

be an all-time ache for Eastview High School

Gopher basketball had a couple down years prior to White's arrival. After Clem Haskins' resignation following the academic fraud scandal that vacated the Gopher's Final Four run in 1997, U of M Athletic Director Joel Maturi hired Dan Munson away from Gonzaga to replace Haskins.

Monson coached the Gophers for part of eight roller coaster seasons. He finished with a respectable 118-106 overall record, but the Gophers struggled in Big 10 play with a 44-68 record. Monson resigned seven games into the 2006-07 season and interim coach Jim Molinari finished the season 7-17. Monson led the Gophers to one NCAA Tournament. Despite Monson's inability to conistantly put a winning product on the court, he was heralded for his ability to bring integrity and cleanliness back to the program that was still in the shadow of the Haskins scandal.

The next season, Maturi replaced Molinari with a big name hire: former Kentucy coach Tubby Smith, who had a National Championship on his resume. Tubby recruited Royce White, and the tide seemed to be turning.

Stay tuned for the Tubby Smith ache article

But that tide turned into a tsunami that engulfed the U of M campus. Before ever taking the court for the Gophers, White was suspended after an incident at the Mall of America and later pleaded guilty to fifth degree theft and disorderly conduct. Later that academic year, White was charged with trespassing in connection to an alleged theft of a laptop from a dorm room. He left the team in February, never appearing in a game for the Gophers.

Tubby won 20+ games in five of his six seasons in Minnesota, but didn't see any Big Ten or NCAA Tournament success. He was fired after another first round NCAA exit following the 2012-13 season and would have undoubtedly benefited from Royce White being on the court.

White, on the other hand, transferred to Iowa State. According to the Star Tribune, White asked Tubby if he could stay on the team, but concerns about White's behavioral challenges and social circle raised too many red flags. So Iowa State and coach Fred Hoiberg got a former Top-20 prospect.

Due to NCAA transfer regulations, White was ineligible to play the 2010-11 season, so after two years away from a regular season game, he suited up for the Cyclones on November 12th and posted a double-double against Lehigh with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Three weeks later against Big Ten powerhouse #15 Michigan State, White recorded another double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds as well as 4 steals. After leading Iowa State to the NCAA tournament, the post-season awards came rolling in including the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and was First team All-Big 12. White was also the only player in the country to lead his team in the five major statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

White declared for the 2012 NBA Draft in March and was selected 16th overall by the Houston Rockets in the NBA Draft.

Ache #8: Black Out Game 163

When you mention "Game 163" up here in Twins Territory, most Twins fans will smile. They remember Alexi Casilla knocking in Carlos Gomez in the bottom of the 10th inning for the 2009 AL Central title.

What fans have erased from their memory is the Game 163 when the ball didn't bounce their way. The Blackout Game 163 against the Chicago White Sox on September 30th, 2008.

A little background on the 2008 season first: nobody expected the Twins to even be relevant enough for a Game 163. Torii Hunter had signed with the Angels after the 2007 season. Johan Santana was traded to the Mets for a handful of prospects. The Twins also lost Carlos Silva in free agency to the Mariners, and traded pitcher Matt Garza to the Devil Rays for Delmon Young and utility infielder Brendan Harris.

Francisco Liriano's dominant rookie season had been cut short by Tommy John surgery, which forced him to miss the entire 2007 season. Third base, as it had been since about 1991, was a question mark as well.

The Twins proved the experts wrong.

The young outfield featuring Carlos Gomez (who was centerpiece of the Johan Santana trade), Denard Span (the Twins first round pick in 2002) and Delmon Young (the 2007 Rookie of the Year runner up) held their own. The combination of Nick Punto, Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris at third base didn't solve the long-term need but got the job done.

The young outfield was fun to watch in 2008, even

with the weird cut-off sleeve uniforms

Livan Hernandez won 10 games for the Twins before being placed on waivers in August, while Glen Perkins and Kevin Slowey led the team with 12 wins a piece in a new-look rotation that also featured Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker and occasionally Boof Bonser.

Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan were all All-Stars. Morneau won the Home Run Derby. Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle. Mauer won his second Batting Title and his first Gold Glove.

And most importantly, the Twins were in position to win their fifth AL Central title in seven years at the end of September.

After falling to six games under .500 in June, they rattled of 10 wins in a row to get back in the race. After August 1st, the division leader changed 18 times. The Twins were 2.5 games back entering a crutial three game series at the Metrodome with the first place White Sox on September 23rd with 6 games left. The Twins swept the series, including a series finale in which the Twins erased a 6-2 deficit before winning the game in extra innings to take a half game lead into the final regular season series against the lowly Royals (75-87) while the White Sox had a four game series against the Indians (81-81).

All the Twins had to do was beat Gil Meche, and

they couldn't do it...

The Royals won the series against the Twins 2-1. The White Sox split the four game series with Cleveland to force a tie atop the division.

The Coin Flip

The Twins and White Sox finished with an identical 88-74 record, meaning the two teams would play one game to determine the 2008 AL Central champion. A major factor in Game 163 in 2008 would be home field advantage. In 2008, home field advantage during a one-game playoff was determined by a coin flip. The Twins and White Sox were both 53-28 at home and 35-46 on the road, so whomever was given home field would have a considerable advantage. Chicago won the coin flip, so the Twins would have to travel to US Cellular for the game. However, the Twins had won the season series over Chicago 11-8 and fans argued that the Twins should have had home field advantage. The rule was changed during the following off season.

The Game

White Sox fans were encouraged to wear black, which is why the game is referred to by many as The Blackout Game. The Twins started Nick Blackburn (11-11, 4.05 ERA) against John Danks (12-9, 3.32 ERA) who was pitching on three days rest after allowed 7 ER against Cleveland in Game 1 of that series.

Danks allowed 2 hits over 8 scoreless innings. The middle of the Twins lineup (Mauer, Morneau and Cuddyer) went a combined 1-for-9. The one hit was a Michael Cuddyer double in the fifth inning. A Delmon Young sac fly moved Cuddyer to third base with one out. Brendan Harris hit a shallow fly ball to Ken Griffey Jr in centerfield. Cuddyer tried to tag up and score, but Griffey threw a bullet to catcher AJ Pierzinski to gun down Cuddyer at the plate.

Yup. Junior played for the White Sox

Nick Blackburn also pitched a great game, except for one pitch to Jim Thome in the bottom of the seventh inning:

Even though this happened, I still can't hate Jim Thome

Thome's solo blast was the difference maker as the White Sox won the game 1-0 and won the AL Central Division title.

The White Sox would lose to eventual American League Champion Tampa Bay in four games.

Ache #7: Kurt Rambis and the Triangle Offense

Things were going downhill for the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2009. Kevin Garnett, traded two years earlier, had gone to back-to-back NBA Finals. Meanwhile, the Wolves had gone through five head coaches in five seasons.

Following a 24-win season in 2009, Kevin McHale fired Randy Witman (who was 38-105 in 2+ seasons) and hired long-time LA Lakers assistant coach Kurt Rambis. Rambis, an assistant under Phil Jackson with the LA Lakers, was a student of the triangle offense...an offense that produced 11 NBA titles. An offense that had produced 11 NBA Titles was worth a shot, right?

What is the Triangle Offense? 

The Triangle Offense has been, pretty much irrefutable, the single most dominant offensive attack (in any major sport) over the past 20 years" - Chuck Klosterman

The Triangle Offense was designed by Sam Berry at USC in the 1940s. It was picked up and developed further by Tex Winter, who would coach at Kansas State as well as for the Houston Rockets. It really took off when Winter became an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls in 1985 and began to teach the offense to Michael Jordan. Two years later, the Bulls hired the head coach of the CBA's Albany Patroons Phil Jackson (as an assistant), who immediately became obsessed with learning the style under Winter.

When Phil Jackson was promoted to head coach of the Bulls in 1989, he had mastered it and coached the Bulls to 6 NBA titles between 1989 and 1998,, then would win four more titles with the LA Lakers from 2000-2010, including a three-peat in the early 2000s.

The Triangle focuses on three players: the center at the low post, the forward at the wing, and the guard in the corner. The strategy is to create good spacing between players and allows each one to pass to four teammates. Every pass is dictated by what the defense does.

Why didn't it work for the Wolves? 

Phil Jackson had a couple once-in-a-generation players playing for him: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neil.

Kurt Rambis did not.

He would have to make due with the youngest roster in the NBA featuring Kevin Love, Al Jefferson, Corey Brewer, and rookie Jonny Flynn.

Also, David Kahn was putting together his roster.

If there were any wheels in David Khan's head, you

would probably see them turning in this picture.

A key component of the Triangle is the players you have on the court. To say the Wolves didn't have the talent of the Bulls or Lakers dynasties is a dramatic understatement. In Rambis's first year with the Wolves in 2009, the team won 15 games...their lowest win total since the 1991-92 season.

Rambis and David Kahn agreed that the reason the team wasn't clicking was because they weren't "athletic enough". The Wolves ranked 20th in PPG (98.2) and 29th in Opponent PPG (107.8). They figured the odd man out on the offense was 290 pound center Al Jefferson (the Triangle suited 325 lb Shaquille O'Neil just fine...) Jefferson averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds that year.

Following the 2009 season, Kahn traded Jefferson (the final remaining piece of the Kevin Garnett trade three seasons earlier) to the Utah Jazz for Kousta Koufas (who played 39 games for the Wolves) and two first round picks: Dontas Motiejunas (Rd 1, Pick 20 in 2011) and Terrence Jones (Rd 1, Pick 18 in 2012).

D-Mo and Jones never played for the Wolves. Motiejunas was drafted by the Wolves, then immediately traded to Houston with Jonny Flynn for Brad Miller (who played 15 games for the Wolves) Nikola Mirotic (who never played for the Wolves but was immediately traded to the Chciago Bulls for Norris Cole and Malcom Lee), Chandler Parsons (who refused to play for the Wolves, so he was traded back to the Houston Rockets for cash) and a first round pick in 2012 which ended up being Andre Robertson (who never played for the Wolves, but was traded with Malcolm Lee to Golden State for cash).

Photographic evidence that Braid Miller did,

in fact, play for the Timberwolves

Got it? Me neither.

With Jefferson gone, it opened the door for recently-signed draft bust Darko Milicic to assume the center role with second round pick Nikola Pekovic (6'11", 307 lbs, seemed to fit the mold of a David Kahn athletic center) coming off the bench. The Wolves also acquired Michael Beasley, Luke Ridnour and Sebastian Telfair and drafted Jonny Flynn's former Syracuse teammate Wesley Johnson  with the fourth overall pick (over players like DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George and Gordon Hayward).

Rambis had his re-tooled, athletic and faster roster. This would be the breakout year for the Wolves, right? The pieces were in place.

(They weren't.)

The Wolves won 17 games in 2010, and Rambis was fired in the second year of a four year. He went 32-132 in his two seasons with the Wolves. The Wolves hired Rick Adelman to replace him.

Adelman won 26 games in 2011, and the Wolves finished 40-42 in 2012...their best season since 2004.

Rambis was re-hired by the Lakers as an assistant after getting canned by the Wolves. A year later, he would follow Phil Jackson, who was hired as the president of the New York Knicks, to the Big Apple. He worked as an assistant under Derrick Fisher for two seasons until Fisher was fired by Jackson would fired in 2016. Rambis was named the interm coach, and led the Knicks to 9-19 record over the final 30 games that year.

Ache #6: Bartolo Colon wins the 2005 AL Cy Young

Bartolo Colon is a fan favorite. The smirking, seemingly ageless, overweight pitcher has somewhat of a cult following across baseball, especially later in his career. While with the Mets from 2014-2016, the baseball world seemed to stop every time Colon came up to bat for New York's National League franchise.

Colon has been around a long time. He is the last active player to pitch for the Montreal Expos. He even pitched against current Twins manager Paul Molitor.

After being released by the Braves on July 4th, 2017 he signed a minor league deal with the Minnesota Twins. But as Bartolo-Mania swept across the country, Twins fans still remember him for one thing:

Winning the 2005 Cy Young award over Johan Santana.

In the mid 2000s, there was no pitcher in the world better than Johan Santana. After becoming a regular in the Minnesota Twins' starting rotation in 2003, Santana won 122 games for the Twins and Mets over the next seven years.

The height of Santana's dominance was 2004-2006. Over those three years, Santana was 55-19 with a 2.75 ERA and averaged nearly 250 strikeouts. Johan won the AL Cy Young in 2004 and 2006, and he should have won it in 2005 as well.

Johan finished third in the AL Cy Young Voting in 2005 behind Colon and Yankee closer Mariano Rivera. Looking back on the numbers, there is really only one reason that Colon was voted for over Santana:

The only category Santana didn't lead was wins. Colon's Anaheim Angels won 95 games and made the playoffs. Santana's Twins won 83 and finished third in the AL Central. Other than only winning 16 games, 2005 was arguably the best season of Santana's career. And he finished third because the Angels were a better team than the Twins.

It's not that Colon had a bad year for Anaheim in 2005. But Santana was better. Santana led the majors in strikeouts (he had 80 more than Colon), allowed 35 fewer hits and 12 fewer runs despite pitching 9 more innings. An even more tell-tale stat of their seasons is Wins Above Replacement (WAR), which didn't exist in 2005. And it's not recognized as an official stat by MLB or Elias, so there's that.

Bartolo Colon pitching for the Angels in 2005

What traditionalist baseball writers saw was that Colon was 10-2 in his last 14 starts for the Angels, who needed every single one of those wins to hold off Oakland in the AL West. It also helps Colon's win total that his bullpen blew zero saves for him, and his offense gave him run support (6.02 runs per game)

Santana left the game with the lead 19 times, and saw the bullpen give three of those away. The Twins only scored 121 runs for him, compared to Colon's 149.

Santana's stats in his last three no-decisions that year? 23 innings pitched, 9 hits, 3 runs. 0 wins.

Another mind-blowing stat from 2005. Bartolo Colon's opponent average was .254. Santana's on-base percentage was .250.

And it wasn't just Minnesota being sore about it. Jayson Stark thought he got snubbed. Mariano Rivera finished second in that year's voting, even though he was left off of numerous ballots because old writers don't think that relievers should win the Cy Young (for the record, I don't think they should either. Also, nine relievers have won the Award, most didn't have stats that compared to Mo that season.)

To make things worse, after injuries ended his career, there is little chance that Johan Santana will be elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame. Every other pitcher to win three or more Cy Young Awards (except for Rogers Clemens and Clayton Kershaw) have been elected in to the Hall: Tom Seaver, Jim Palmer, Pedro Martinez, Sandy Koufax, Greg Maddux, Steve Carlton, and Randy Johnson.

Only three two-time winners are in (Bob Gibson, Gaylord Perry, Tom Glavine) compared to two who aren't in (Denny McLain and Bret Saberhagen), one who won't get in (Tim Lincecum), one who might get in (Roy Halladay), and one who is still building his resume (Max Scherzer).

While Santana's stats likely aren't enough to get him into the Hall (139-78, 3.20 ERA, 1988 strikeouts over a 12-year career), that third Cy Young on his resume may have put him over the top.

But instead, it went to Colon. The rare Cy Young Three Peat for Santana never happened (it's so rare, it has never happened in the American League).

Minnesota fans still aren't sure what was worse that season: Santana getting screwed out of history, or watching the White Sox win the World Series that year.

Barf.

Ache #5: Willie Hernandez wins the 1984 AL MVP

When you look at the retired numbers near the Budweiser Roof Deck at Target Field, there are a lot of individual accomplishments between Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, and Kirby Puckett. There are MVPs, Gold Gloves, Rookie of the Year awards, Batting Titles, Hall of Fame Plaques and 51 combined All Star Game appearances between the 5 legends. But there is one number hanging that lacks the individual accolades, and some argue should have added one in 1984.

The Minnesota Twins weren't on anybody's radar in 1984. Most of Calvin Griffith's young core of Tom Brunansky, Gary Gaetti, Frank Viola, Tim Laudner and Kent Hrbek were entering their third major league season, and had seen a lot of growing pains on the way.

1982 wasn't a total loss for the Terrible

Twins. Gary Ward finished 32nd in the

AL MVP voting

Through his first two seasons, future Cy Young winner Frank Viola had gone 11-25 with a 5.38 ERA. The Twins bullpen was a mess (Twins closer Ron Davis lost 17 games between 1982 and 1983). The bright spot was the Class of '82 Twins, specifically Kent Hrbek. 

Hrbek was an All Star and finished second in AL Rookie of the Year voting (behind Cal Ripken Jr) in 1982. Hrbek had signed with the Twins out of high school in 1978 and made the jump from Single-A to the majors in August of 1981. In 1982, he hit .311 with 23 home runs in 140 games. Even though the future Hall of Famer Ripken played in 20 more games than Hrbek, their stats were comparable:

The one big difference? Hrbek's Twins lost 102 games. Ripken's Orioles won 94.

National media recognized the talent of

rookie Kent Hrbek in 1982, even though his team

lost 102 games.

The Twins were "better" in 1983, finishing the season with a 70-92 record. But 1984 is when it seemed it was all coming together.

The rotation was solid. Frank Viola broke out, winning 18 games. Mike Smithson and John Butcher, both acquired from Texas in a trade for Gary Ward, combined to win 28 more. 

And Hrbek was lights out. He hit .311 with 28 home runs and 107 RBI (the only 100+ RBI season of his career). The Twins were leading the AL West by 5.5 games on August 22nd and were still leading the division on September 23rd with 8 games to play. But the Twins would lose the last six games of the season, including two blown saves in the last four games by Ron Davis (who would tie an AL record with 14 blown saves in 1984). After blowing a 10-0 lead in Cleveland down the stretch, Gaetti was questioned about a crucial throwing error in the game and replied "It's tough to throw to first base with both hands around your neck." The Twins finished 81-81 and 3 games behind the Kansas City Royals in the AL West. 

During those last six games, Hrbek was 4-22 (.182) with no home runs and three RBI. Had the Twins finished over .500 and won the division, Hrbek likely would have been the MVP, taking the Twins from fifth place in 1983 to a division title in 1984.

Regardless, people gave Hrbek a lot of credit for the turn-around and he was considered a legitimate MVP candidate.

Unfortunately, there was a problem. Well, two of them.

There were two dominant relievers in the American League in 1984: Willie Hernandez of the Detroit Tigers (9-3, 1.92 ERA, 32 SV, 112 K) and Dan Quisenberry of the Kansas City Royals (6-3, 2.64 ERA, 41 SV). Hernandez and Quisenberry would finish 1 and 2 in the AL Cy Young voting, and baseball writers were going to cast their votes for the relievers for the league MVP as well.

Looking back at 1984, there were a lot of players that put up better numbers than Hrbek. Was he the most dominant first baseman that season? Eddie Murray (.306, 29 HR, 110 RBI, 7.1 WAR), Don Mattingly (.343, 23 HR, 110 RBI, 6.3 WAR) and Rookie of the Year Alvin Davis (.284, 27 HR, 116 RBI, 5.9 WAR) all had equal or better statistical seasons. Cal Ripken had the highest WAR (10.0) out of any player that season. What made Hrbek such an interesting candidate for MVP was the fact that he had led his team from 102 losses in 1982 to the doorstep of an AL West title two years later.

But was it enough?

"Numbers-wise it was my best year. I hit .311 with 27 homers and 107 RBI. But you know how a lot of people don't believe a pitcher should be considered an MVP candidate, being that they have their own award - the Cy Young? Well, they gave the MVP award to Detroit reliever Willie Hernandez. My rookie season, when I hit .301 and drove in 92 runs, I finished second to Cal Ripken for Rookie of the Year. I guess I'm just a second-place kind of guy when it comes to awards. But I never finished second in the World Series, did I?" -Kent Hrbek from Tales from the Minnesota Twins Dugout

He didn't.

The overall vote was pretty split. Hernandez received 16 first place votes, while Hrbek, Quisenberry, and Eddie Murray split the other 12. Hernandez also won the 1984 AL Cy Young, getting 12 first place votes. Quisenberry finished second, receiving 9 first place votes.

Oddly enough, Quisenberry won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, not Hernandez. Rolaids award is decided by a point system, not a writers vote. So Hernandez, a reliever that won the Cy Young Award and the MVP, wasn't named the league's best reliever in 1984.

Making a Case for Kent

Hrbek had a point. Since the inception of the Cy Young Award in 1956 to the season prior to Hrbek's should-have-been-MVP season, the AL MVP had been given to a pitcher only three times: Denny McLain in 1968 (31-6, 1.82 ERA) ,Vida Blue in 1971 (24-8, 1.82 ERA) and Rollie Fingers in 1981 (6-3, 1.04 ERA, 28 SV). Roger Clemens also won one in 1986 and Justin Verlander was the AL MVP in 2014. Prior to the Cy Young Award, Lefty Grove, Spud Chandler, Hal Newhouser (Newhouser won two) and Bobby Shantz also won MVP awards.

The first question to ask is who is eligible to win the MVP. This is, according to the BBWAA, the definition of league MVP.

Dear Voter:There is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. It is up to the individual voter to decide who was the Most Valuable Player in each league to his team. The MVP need not come from a division winner or other playoff qualifier.
The rules of the voting remain the same as they were written on the first ballot in 1931:
1.  Actual value of a player to his team, that is, strength of offense and defense.
2.  Number of games played.
3.  General character, disposition, loyalty and effort.
4.  Former winners are eligible.
5.  Members of the committee may vote for more than one member of a team.
You are also urged to give serious consideration to all your selections, from 1 to 10. A 10th-place vote can influence the outcome of an election. You must fill in all 10 places on your ballot. Only regular-season performances are to be taken into consideration.
Keep in mind that all players are eligible for MVP, including pitchers and designated hitters.

Even the BBWAA says there is no clear-cut definition of what Most Valuable means. Number 1: Value of a player to his team...both offense and defense. Hrbek's offensive numbers speak for themselves, but what people often overlook is his defensive ability. People often discounted Hrbek's defense because he was a bigger guy. During Hrbek's 14 year career, the AL Gold Glove at first base was awarded to either Eddie Murray or Don Mattingly 13 times. Hrbek does have a Gold Glove in his basement however...one of Gary Gaetti's. Gaetti gave him his 1988 Gold Glove because if it weren't for Hrbek making great plays at first, Gaetti may not have ever won any.

Also, look at number two: games played. In 1984, Willie Hernandez appeared in 80 games. He threw 140 innings (averaging 1.2 IP per appearance). Kent Hrbek played 149 games, 13 of those were extra inning games and only left five games early due to injury or a pinch hitter. You often hear the argument that, despite playing in fewer games, pitchers face as many batters in a season as offensive players get plate appearances. Willie Hernandez faced 548 hitters in 1984, meaning hitters had 548 chances to score off of him.

Hrbek had 635 plate appearances that season.

Should Pitchers Be Eligible for MVP?

The landscape of baseball was changing in the mid 1970s. Pitchers weren't making 40+ starts or throwing 300+ innings anymore. Teams had begun using relief specialists. The 'save' became an official stat in 1969 and the Baseball Writers were putting too much stock into it.  It was around the same time that people started getting the idea that baseball inside domed stadiums was a good idea.

Pitchers should have their award, and hitter should have their award. As it stands right now, pitchers have the Cy Young award (est 1956), and hitters have the Hank Aaron award (est 1999). There is also the Silver Sluggers, which are given to the best power hitter from each position, NL pitchers and AL DHs included.

And while winning the Cy Young establishes the recipient as the best (and most valuable) pitcher, the Hank Aaron award doesn't do that. Subtracting the years that Justin Verlander (2011) and Clayton Kershaw (2014) won the MVP award in their respective leagues,  the same player has won both the MVP and Hank Aaron Award in the same season 15 times (15/34)...only 44% of the time. (In 2014, Giancarlo Stanton finished second in the NL MVP voting behind Kershaw and won the NL Hank Aaron award and in 2011 Jacoby Elsbury finished second in the AL MVP voting, but Jose Bautista won the AL Hank Aaron.) And of those 15, Barry Bonds has 3, and Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cabrera each have 2.

The award itself is very inconsistent. When it was first awarded in 1999, it was given to Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa based on a point system that factored in Hits, Home Runs and RBI. From 2000-02, a three-name, point system ballot was given to MLB broadcasters.In 2003, an online fan ballot was added. From 2004-06, fans voted for each team's top hitter in August, then an MLB panel chose the top six, then fans voted for the best of the final six.

From 2007-08, five finalists from each league were voted on by the fans from 30 nominees from that MLB panel, then fans voted for the winner. Since 2009, fans vote for both the finalists and overall winners of the award.

There are Silver Slugger awards (given to the best hitter at each position), Batting Titles (awarded to the highest batting average), and overall Statistical Champions (RBI champion, Home Run Leader, doubles champion, etc). Here's a solution: Rename the each MVP in honor of Hank Aaron and let the writers decide. Keep the Cy Young Award (named after one of the best pitchers of all time) exclusive to pitchers, keep the MVP (aka the Hank Aaron Award) exclusive to hitters, give the top reliever the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year and let the fans vote on the All Star Game.

Should Relievers be eligible for Cy Young or MVP?

And down the rabbit hole we go.

If you know anything about Cy Young, you'd know he was anything but a three-innings-a-game pitcher. While he did have make 91 relief appearances and save 17 games (60 years before the 'save' even existed) over his 22 year career, Young threw 759 complete games and over 7300 innings

From 1977 to 1992, a reliever won the Cy Young 7 times: Sparky Lyle in 1977, Bruce Sutter in 1979, Rollie Fingers in 1981, Hernandez in 1984, Steve Bedrosian in 1987, Mark Davis in 1989 and Dennis Eckersley in 1992. 

Since 1992? Only one...Eric Gagne in 2003. You can either attribute that to offensive players's literally juicing their stats to become a more sexy pick for MVP (40 home runs looks better on the back of a baseball card than 40 saves), or writers and media coming to the realization that the "save" isn't that impressive of a stat.

In 2008, Bradford Doolittle of the Kansas City Star wrote that since the best relievers were pitching fewer innings in the 1980s being reduced from two or three innings to one while less efficient pitchers were pitching those innings in their place. This, however, was not the case for Hernandez in 1984. Out of his 80 relief appearances in 1984, 45 required him to record four or more outs. In those 45 games, the Tigers were 37-8. Hernandez was 8-2 with a 1.67 ERA and 20 saves in those 45 games.

But what about the rest of the 1984 field?

Bert Blyleven, pitching for the Cleveland Indians, finished third. Bert was 19-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 1984. Bert faced twice as many batters as Hernandez, threw 105 more innings, and had a 7.2 WAR for a 75-win Indians club. Bert's third place finish and 45 vote points was the closest the Hall of Famer ever came to a Cy Young Award. Prior to 1984, the Cy Young Award had been awarded to a pitcher on a losing team only once: Gaylord Perry in 1972 who, ironically, also pitched for a 70-win Cleveland club.

It's a shame that when you think of great first basemen of the 1980s, Kent Hrbek isn't one of the first names to come to mind. He was an All-Star only once in his career. Even with the Twins leading the AL West in 1987, Kirby Puckett was the lone representative for the Twins...as a reserve. Adding an MVP to his resume would have been a great springboard for what was to come for the Twins in the next couple years, would have put the national spotlight on Minneapolis and would have added another MVP to the resume of retired numbers at Target Field.

It just sucks that Hrbie not only lost to a pitcher for MVP...he lost to a reliever.