There was a number kicked around Jan. 26 when the Twins Winter Caravan touched base in Wadena. It is etched into the Major League record books for all time.
In the big Wadena-Deer Creek Middle/Senior High gym, former Twins great Dan Gladden asked Wadena fans if he knew how many games the Twins lost in 2016. Not everyone knew how many games they had won but quite a few recalled how many they had lost - 103.
It represented the club's worst single-season record since the Twins suited up for the 1961 season - their first in Minnesota.
Losses can motivate athletes and coaches even more than victories. A long-time basketball coach who took teams to several state tournaments during his long career once told me he did not remember how many games he had won - but he could remember all of his losses.
Former Twins hitting coach Tom Brunansky was on the 1987 team that won Minnesota's first World Series. He was quoted during the dismal 2016 that what the Twins needed most of all was not pitching, hitting or fielding - it was time.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bruno would know. In 1982, when he was a 21-year-old outfielder for the Twins, the club posted a 60-102 record. Five years later, Bruno was still on the team when the Twins won the World Series. So were '82 teammates like Tim Laudner, Gary Gaetti, Kent Hrbek and Frank Viola.
Jose Berrios and John Ryan Murphy, who represented the Twins in Wadena, represent some of the 2017 team that will be seeking redemption from the terrible 2016 season.
Berrios is 22. Murphy is all of 25. Berrios was a No. 1 pick in the amateur draft by the Twins in 2012. Murphy was a No. 2 pick by the Yankees in 2009 and was traded to the Twins before the 2016 season. Between the two of them they played in a whopping 40 games last year.
They are not the only youngsters on team. Byron Buxton, Adalberto Mejia and Jorge Polanco are 23. Miguel Sano and Max Kepler are 24 as is Eddie Rosario. Tyler Duffey, Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas are 26.
The Twins definitely have their share of young talent. The question is who will be playing baseball in a Twins uniform going forward for as Derek Falvey and Thad Levine stamp their management styles on the club. The Brian Dozier trade rumors have been the biggest news the Twins have generated so far in the off-season. Their new front office duo has yet to show us what they can really deliver.
