Victory Without Borders

With the Twins loss for a second straight year to those damn Yankees, I see our friend the Atomizer has morphed into his alter ego the Agonizer. In a fit of gin soaked pique, first blaming manager Ron Gardenhire, then Game 4 losing pitcher Kyle Lohse for our ignominious season's end.

I agree that both gentleman are subject to some criticism, but Tom Powers in yesterday's Pioneer Press identifies the real culprit in this series, backup catcher Pat Borders. He's another guy apparently suffering from attention deficit syndrome:

With one out [in the 11th inning], Rodriquez doubled to left. Manager Ron Gardenhire and his coaches could see from the dugout that A-Rod was eyeing third. They signaled frantically to catcher Pat Borders, calling for an "inside move."

But no one in the dugout could get Borders' attention. As soon as Lohse went into his delivery, bench coach Steve Liddle went "Oh no!"

I get the sense that Borders 41-year-old right arm would have had trouble throwing out Rodriguez anyway, but it would have been nice to have him available for consultation with the coaches on the most important pitch of the season. Turns out that wasn't even Borders' first mental breakdown during this series. He also played a critical role in the Twins' torturous loss in Game 2:

The Minnesota coaches felt he was tipping off the location of pitches by leaning outside or inside too early. In fact, they believe Rodriguez hit his big Game 2 double in the 12th off Joe Nathan after Yankees runners saw Borders setting up to the outside and relayed the information to the hitter. Rodriguez then leaned across the plate and hit a low slider, one that was out of the strike zone, for his double.

Borders' lingering angst over that misplay led to his third critical lapse in judgment during the series, the play allowing Rodriguez to score from third base in Game 4:

After the fiasco in Game 2, Borders was determined not to give away the location of the slider. So set up squarely behind the plate. As Lohse delivered, Borders tried to jump to the outside. He was still in motion when the pitch arrived. The ball was almost in the dirt. Instead of trying to block the ball, as catchers are taught, Borders tried to backhand it. That's probably because he still was off-balance from his late shift.

We all remember Borders as the World Series MVP in 1992 for the Toronto Blue Jays, and when he was acquired, I appreciated his supposed savvy, veteran presence on the team during this pennant chase. But his decided lack of savvy in this year's playoffs showed there were legitimate reasons for him spending most of the last SIX YEARS in the minor leagues. Maybe GM Terry Ryan is to blame for acquiring this stiff in the first place.

One wonders what might have been if catching wunderkind Joe Mauer had stayed healthy this season. Instead of blaming Gardenhire, Lohse, Ryan, or even Borders for this series, I blame the new Metrodome turf and its affect on medial meniscus cartilage.

All this being said, I cheer for the Yankees in the ALCS. Anything that would make John Kerry and Ben Affleck happy this fall must be prevented at all costs. Plus the Boston roster is full of jerks like Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, and Doug Mientkiewicz. And I'm still bitter at David Ortiz for ceasing to suck immediately after the Twins let him go.