It was an interesting day in the Minnesota sports world. The baseball season ended Wednesday for the Minnesota Twins. So Thursday, the organization cleaned house with their coaches. The two that survived the day still standing with the Twins were manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson.
It's funny because my parents and I were just talking about what the Twins might do after the season. If we knew anything, we figured the Twins definitely would not part with long-time bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek, who just finished his 32nd year with the club. It seemed like one of those, "he's been around forever" deals, so he'd be safe.
I guess we were wrong.
So long, coaches
Stelmaszek was let go Thursday. Joining him was third base coach Steve Liddle, first base coach Jerry White and head trainer Rick McWane. In addition, the Twins reassigned hitting coach Joe Vavra to infield instruction and bench coach Scott Ullger to the outfield.
Twitter was buzzing throughout the day as reporters got word of each move as it was made. The Twins aren't really known as a team to make drastic moves with its coaches, but I guess that's what a couple of last-place finishes in the division will get you.
When the news release by the Twins finally made it out later in the day, there were Tweets wondering about Gardy's job security. A few others joined me in asking why pitching coach Andy was still around when pitching is one of the major concerns with this ball club. Reporters were quick to point out that Gardy will be in the final year of his contract next season, so it will essentially be a make-or-break year for him.
Time for some new blood
So, that's pretty much the #twinsshakeup, as it was being referred to on Twitter. I'm glad that they are making some changes. After two pretty bad years on the field, it's apparent that something needs to change. My hunch was never that Gardy would be done after this year, but I wouldn't have been surprised either. A lot of times when things don't go well, you start at the top with ousting people.
I'm not exactly sure what reassigning Vavra and Ullger will do for the team. There were plenty of times I thought Vavra should have been let go, usually when the Twins hitting was pretty much non-existent, of course. I think getting rid of Stelmaszek was maybe the biggest statement, since he'd been around for the highest form of baseball success, average baseball and then some pretty bad days as well.
Now the question is: Who will the replacements be at the vacant positions? We'll wait and see. I saw former Twin Paul Molitor's name mentioned. That'd be cool. It will also be interesting to see how Gardy and Andy move on with a new set of coaches, too. That can't be an easy position for either of them.
Anyway, October does mean playoffs in Major League Baseball. Unfortunately, it will be without the Twins again this year. There's always some good playoff magic, however, so here's to another fun playoff run for all the teams lucky enough to make it.
No more Twins, no hockey, either
In other, more depressing news for the day: The locked-out NHL officially canceled the first two weeks of its season. On a local level, that means the Minnesota Wild miss out on five games, three at home and one in Dallas against the rival Stars. Here's hoping the lockout ends sooner rather than later.
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