Transcripts

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SPEAKER 1: The hitters are coming up with clutch hits this year. A lot of two out hits. It shows in how many come from behind wins the Twins have. I believe it numbers in the 30s now. And that's just amazing. To come from behind like that shows that they don't give up. They have faith that they're going to come back.

And they just make some every game. It seems like they make two or three remarkable plays, either hits or fielding plays, or Torii Hunter, last week, throwing somebody out at the plate. It almost seems routine that they do something great every game. That they're like their own little highlight film, as one reporter said last week.

SPEAKER 2: You said that they have faith that they will come back if they're down. How confident is this team?

SPEAKER 1: They're very confident for a young team. That we still have the second half and now the pressures of a pennant race are going to set in, because they haven't run away with anything yet. And without the Central division, they're going to be at risk for a wild card berth also.

The Western division is pretty much Seattle's and they've put everyone else out of reach. But the Eastern division, you have two real tough teams there in Boston and the Yankees, and then in the Central, you've got the Twins and Cleveland that have played very well also. So you've got five teams competing for four spots. And the Twins can't afford to let up too much or they'll fall into that fifth slot, or worse, possibly.

SPEAKER 2: But now that we are in the second half of the season, how difficult will it be for Cleveland to catch up as each week goes by?

SPEAKER 1: All it takes is a short spurt. I mean, if the Twins lose five in a row and Cleveland wins five in a row, they're tied. But they have to do like they did in the first half. When they get into a slump like they did in June, they've got to work their way out of it. They've got to carry on in the middle of it.

SPEAKER 2: What are the odds that the team would tank?

SPEAKER 1: Well, you're asking me to lay odds on the Twins now when they're five games up at the All-Star break and we've had nine straight losing seasons, I don't think I can do that, honestly. It's been a very exciting season and I think what we really can hope for now is an exciting finish to the season.

It has been remarkable attendance wise. They've already broke a million, which is something they previously would like to do in September at some time. So they possibly could break two million this year, which is it's just an incredible story still. I mean, it gets more incredible every week that it goes on.

SPEAKER 2: What have you been hearing about the push for an outdoor baseball stadium for the Twins?

SPEAKER 1: There's not much talk about it. Now, you just you kind of get a feel for it being there. And it seems like every round that they lose with the legislature, I think they need to go back and look at how much-- they're going to have to spend more and more of their own money on this. They're going to have to raise the money in some other way than taxes on the general public. But I don't think that they're planning on leaving. I don't think leaving is really in the landscape. There's nowhere to go primarily. And if they draw two million fans here, it obviously is a good baseball city when they put a good product on the field.

And it always has been before. In the years they won the World Series, they drew two million and then they draw even more the next year. If they would win the World Series this year-- that's the knock on wood. If they would win the World Series this year, then they'd have a great attendance year next year probably too. So they're going to figure it out eventually some way, but I think it's still pretty much political poison to take any money out of the public trough.