Of Youth and Miracles

There is ONE common thread in miracle baseball teams. There is ONE thing that runs through teams that go from "worst to first." There is just one.

Youth.

NO team in baseball history has ever had a dramatic one or two year turnaround without it. Not the '67  Red Sox or the '69 Mets or the '87 Twins. Teams with an aging roster of veterans, who were never good, don't suddenly become one of the best teams in baseball.

There is a book out right now called "Impossible Dream" and it chronicles the incredible season the Red Sox had in 1967. Carl Yastrzemski became the best hitter in baseball that year. He was only 27. The ace of the pitching staff was Jim Lonborg. He wasn't 30 yet. Their OLDEST pitchers were Gary Bell and Lee Stange. They were only 30. Their whole team was young. And they had one of the best teams in baseball history.

Most Twins fans remember the '87 Twins. They might have had a couple of older veterans but youth ran through their veins as well. Our current roster has 5 regular players older than 30 and SIX pitchers older than that. That's 11 players years past baseball prime,

The Twins did something weird in '86, they got rid of most of their older players and went with virtual rookies. It was a rough year. But something incredible happened in '87 that we will continue to celebrate for years to come. The Twins currently have those very same type of players in Double and Triple A ball right now, both as regulars and pitchers.

The only difference is that most will stay there for several more seasons. Many of our veteran starters are now inked, foolishly, to multi-year contracts. And Mauer's contract will last a few more years as well. We are an older team simply getting older. History tells us to get better, we have to go with younger players.

But we can't make the switch.

Don't expect any miracles without it.