Is Anybody Alive Out There?

Is anybody still paying attention?

Some of us, of course, can’t help ourselves. Some of us actually watched that game tonight.

And some game, huh? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a game end on a dropped pop-up to the second baseman. That there qualifies as tee-ball heroics.

Still, the Twins did come back after Nathan blew the save. Michael Cuddyer did hit a home run to tie the game. And Ian Kinsler did drop Jason Bartlett’s pop-up to give Minnesota the win.

But still, again, what the hell? Why is Ron Gardenhire still handing Juan Rincon the ball in close games? Why doesn’t Justin Morneau hit home runs anymore? What’s wrong with Joe Mauer? How could Johan Santana have lost twelve games? How is it possible that virtually every single key guy from last year –with the exception of Torii Hunter and Joe Nathan– could decline in performance? How is that catching for the Twins has become the baseball version of drumming for Spinal Tap?

And now Ron Gardenhire is purportedly musing aloud about opening next season with Nick Punto as his everyday second baseman? Great. I’m pretty sure Luis Rivas is out there somewhere and available, and he’s still only 28 years old.

I really don’t get it. The entire second half –shit, the entire season— has been a series of infuriating streaks: four wins, three losses, five wins, four losses, five losses, three wins, five wins, four losses, six losses, three wins, four losses.

Yet I just keep watching, because at this time of year it’s hard-wired in me how quickly the darkness begins to descend when that heavy black curtain is finally drawn on the season and winter begins its relentless march. It hurts. It still hurts, every year. It’s a terrible withdrawal, and a brutal disruption of routine at exactly the time of year when a comfortable routine is exactly what I need. So I’ll hold onto that routine as long as possible, and every day I’ll continue to hope that I’ll see something I haven’t seen before.

At this point I’ll even be plenty happy to see something I have seen before. A well-played game, for instance, or a Justin Morneau home run.