October 06, 2009

One Last Dome Classic

True or false: Monday and Tuesday were the best two nights in a row at the Metrodome since October 26-27, 1991.

The Twins gave the Dome one more classic Tuesday, defeating the Tigers in a one-game playoff in 12 innings to win the AL Central. The game, as my friend Jeremy pointed out tonight, is going to necessitate a rewrite of all of those "best games/moments in Dome history" lists.

It was the Twins' 7th straight win, which put them all alone in first place for the first time since April. After spending most of the season within a game or two on either side of .500, the Twins were 7 games back in early September, and became the first team in history to come back from three games back with four to play.

In my capacity as a movie critic, I had a screening tonight that I had to go to at 7:30. So I watched the first hour of the game at a restaurant by my office before heading to the movie. After it was over, astonishingly, the game was still going on, so I watched the final inning at a nearby bar.

The Twins, following the five-hour game and celebration, will have to get on a plane tonight to New York, where they face the Yankees tomorrow night. A rainout would be helpful. The odds are long, but the Twins have done it before- and the Yanks haven't won a playoff series since 2004.

Meanwhile, I'm just glad that Miguel Cabrera homer didn't win the game. The "Miggy redeems himself after drunken-wifebeating asshattery" storyline would've been just too much.

The biggest surprise of all- the team was able to win the division with people like Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto in the lineup- and season-long disappoints Alexi Casilla driving in and scoring the winning run. Amazing.

A five-hour baseball game- I've got a feeling there will be a lot more of those in the next few weeks.

Posted by Stephen Silver at October 6, 2009 11:45 PM
Comments

Is Casilla even on the ALDS roster?

BTW, this is the most emotionally draining game I've ever watched. Too many ups and downs.

Posted by: Jeff S at October 7, 2009 09:52 AM
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