What a raw deal
By now I should have come to realize that nothing that those two baseball geniuses – Derek Falvey and Than Levine – do should surprise me. But, surprised or not, those two “clowns” continue to confuse, annoy and irritate me. You got it, they make me mad.
The latest blunder by Falvey and Lavine came just two days after the Minnesota Twins finished the 2018 campaign on a high note with lots of positives. After finishing the season with six straight wins and a respectable 78-84 record, Falvey and Lavine (they always seem to be collaborating, like Napoleon and Squealer in George Orwell’s satirical novel “Animal Farm”) dismissed Paul Molitor as the Twins’ on-the-field manager. Ridiculous!
Molitor, a native of St. Paul, loved the Twins and was honored by MLB as the American League Manager-of-the-Year in 2017 after reversing a 59-103 (2016) season to a playoff-bound (wild card) record of 85-77.
Things didn’t go quite as well this year. But there were highlights and thrills — lots of them. Providing much of the positive action were guys like Eduardo Escobar, Eddie Rosario, Mitch Garver and Jake Cave. The geniuses traded Escobar (along with Ryan Presley, Brian Dozier and others) at mid-season. These same two “baseball wizards” traded away closer Brandon Kintzler at the trade deadline last summer.
Still, Molitor kept the team focused — both years — and the team played hard, competed well and had fun all the way to season’s end. Molitor’s reward — a new position in the organization, which is being run by two guys who have not achieved a tenth of what Molitor has admirably accomplished.
Falvey and Lavine, it has been said, will find a new, younger and more analytical manager who can, perhaps, work better with chronic under-achievers Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton — you know the so-called superstars who were going to lead the Twins to multiple World Series. Those two guys are SO OVERRATED!!! Why not give Cave a legitimate shot at becoming the Twins center fielder next season? Cave appears to have a bit of Adam Thielen mentality — work hard, play hard, have fun and strive to help the team win.
Fulda native Patrick Reusse wrote a great column for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune following Molitor’s release. He talked about Paul’s career as a player and how the Twins were 78-84 in Molltor’s first season (1996) playing with the team, after starring for the Brewers and Bluejays in his Hall-of-Fame career. As usual, Reusse hit the ball on the nose with a terrific article, leading with mention of those ‘bookend’ seasons with identical records.
Speaking of great columns, outdoor columnist Scott Rall wrote a tremendous one in last Saturday’s (October 6) Globe which details his friendship and learning experiences with farmer and conservationist Dale Aden — a great man of numerous interests who recently passed away suddenly following a heart attack while playing tennis.
A 1959 graduate of Okabena High School, Dale was top notch in so many ways and could walk fast as he stayed in great physical shape. His death was a shock and he will be missed by many. Scott Rall’s column really says a lot about the legacy Dale left in striving to conserve nature and the great outdoors.
