It’s been a rough go for Minnesota the last year and a half.
The reason for their offensive can be attributed to the absence of their two highest paid All-Star caliber players. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau put all that misery aside with their performances on Thursday. If only for one day, Twins fans could dream big in the Central again.
Mauer, who went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI’s, got the ball rolling off of Dan Haren. He has been the lightning rod for criticism since signing his massive contract (8-years/$184 million dollars) and following it up with a season to forget last year. Some thought the hometown boy had gone Hollywood because his presence was felt more on the products they bought than the team they cheer for. That has never been the case, and Mauer proved so today by looking very much like the sweet-swinging catcher he is and we’ve come to know.
Morneau had a completely different set of issues. In the middle of 2010 he started dealing with concussion issues that kept him out the rest of that season and all but 69 games in 2011. It was good to see him back after 21-months of dealing with a very serious issue, and back he was with a bang. He went 1-for-5 but made it count as he launched a two-run shot off of Rich Thompson to put the Twins ahead for good.
If both can sustain throughout 2012 the Twins will have decent production. While the pitching is another issue, it certainly helps to have these two guys back and producing big time.
