MINNEAPOLIS — It's not the elephant in the room... no, it's much, much larger than that.
The Minnesota Twins 18-game losing streak is the equivalent of a blue whale in their locker room at Target Field, even though most of the roster was a toddler - or in diapers - the last time the team triumphed in the post-season.
Fire up the way-back machine and transport yourself back to Oct. 5, 2004. The Twins beat the New York Yankees 2-0 in their A.L. Division Series game behind the shutdown pitching of Johan Santana, Juan Rincón, and closer Joe Nathan. In what has become a familiar pattern, however, the Bronx Bombers stormed back and won the next 3 games, booting Minnesota from the playoffs.
OK, back to the present, and the Twins... ahem... situation. They are sitting on a record for futility, the longest-ever playoff losing streak in professional sports. Not just baseball... we're talking every sport from football to hockey to soccer to... yeah, you get the picture.
For their part, Twins players are doing their best to acknowledge what everyone seems to be talking about while trying to convince fans (and likely themselves) that it means nothing heading into Game 1 against Toronto.
"It's a different team, and it's a different mentality," said shortstop Carlos Correa, who won a World Series Championship with the Houston Astros. "So, when we go out there we aren't thinking about that at all, we're thinking about winning every single inning and from there you win games, so we're focused on the present and we're gonna keep moving forward."
"It'd be nice for all of us to get that monkey off the state's, the Twin Cities', the territory's... get that monkey off our backs," admitted catcher-designated hitter Ryan Jeffers as he talked with reporters in the locker room following Monday's workout.
In truth, the only thing that will end the streak - and the talk - is a win, something the Twins hope starter Pablo Lopez and the young bats that surged in the season's second half can earn Tuesday against the Blue Jays. That would wipe the slate clean, and hopefully pave the way for the hometown nine to advance out of the first round since 2002, when they dumped to the eventual World Series champion Los Angeles Angels.
Seriously.... it's gotta end sometime, right?
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.
Watch more coverage of Minnesota sports:
Watch the latest reports from the KARE 11 sports team in our YouTube playlist: