Last time I blogged about the Twins, it was the middle of June, their record was 24-39, and I noted that, as they would have to go 66-33 to finish 90-72, there was virtually no chance of them qualifying for the playoffs. Between then and the all-star break, they won 17 of 26 games and got themselves back into contention. The season's second half has been a long hard slide: their record tonight, as they play in Detroit, is 59-84. In the American League, only the Orioles are worse.
But I'm still watching. A mediocre athlete since my t-ball days, I find myself pulling hard for the September call-ups. They try so hard but frequently appear overmatched. There are no other athletes on television with whom I can identify. It's not hard to understand why they play hard. The minimum salary of a major-league ballplayer in 2011 is $414,000; minor-leaguers are paid like you and me. There are few lines of work in which a promotion to the next level can in a single bound push your income past that of experienced algebra teachers, mid-level managers, pharmacists, corporate lawyers, orthodontists, gastroenterologists, and the president of the United States.
I've been paying particular attention to a Twin named Rene Tosoni. He was up earlier in the summer, when half the millionaires were on the disabled list, so he is in my mind distingished from the herd of September strivers. Also, Tosoni is from Canada, which is unusual, and I remember how in one of his first games the TV cameras showed about twenty of his friends and family cheering wildly in one section of the stands when he drove in a run with a single. I don't think he's going to make it. He's been getting a look, playing regularly, and in the last 10 games before tonight had gone 5-for-31, with a double, a triple, no homers, and two rbi. He had 130 at-bats for the season and an average of .177. Tonight, batting eighth, he made the last out in the Twins' four-run first inning and was in the game 0-for-4, dropping his average to .172. It can't drop fast when it's that low. The Tigers came roaring back and won the game 8-4. The season closed down on the Twin regulars several weeks ago and the big-league hopes of Rene Tosoni may be closing down now. Until quite recently he must have always been one of those guys who made other guys realize they weren't that good.
