Commentary: Twins continue to play politics, lose on and off field

Through 42 games, the Twins are off to an egregious start.

Target Field ahead of Monday's game against the White Sox. (A.J. Kaufman/Alpha News)

I bit the bullet and attended my first Major League Baseball game of the season Monday night. The White Sox-Twins game quickly became as big of a joke as the new “George Floyd: 1973-2020” sign on the outfield wall at Target Field.

Minnesota trailed their Chicago rivals — a team they edged out for the division title last year — 14-1 by the 6th inning, and eventually lost 16-4. Justified boos rained down from fans during the final few innings.

Worse, only 8,000 patrons came through the turnstiles, despite perfect weather and stadium capacity recently raised to 60%.

This may be because through 42 games, the Twins are off to an egregious start. There’s been some bad baseball in Minneapolis the last six decades, but the 2021 Twins were expected to be one of the better teams in the sport. Instead, the team has lost 28 games and only won 14, holding the worst record in all of baseball as of Thursday.

After ruining professional football and basketball, progressive social justice has infested baseball. The season began with the entire league caving to left-wing bullying and taking ignorant stances on an innocuous law they never read.

And the Twins may be the worst offenders.

Whether making political statements before games, or posting “End Racism” and “Justice for George Floyd” on the outfield walls, the franchise leans hard left.

Rocco Baldelli, the hapless Twins skipper, does too. A New England millennial who never should have been hired to replace Minnesota legend Paul Molitor three years ago, Baldelli’s been appalling the last two years when it mattered most; this year he’s hit a nadir, and smart fans know he needs to go.

The franchise is shameful too.

One month ago, right before the Derek Chauvin verdict was announced, ownership issued a horrific, offensive press release that could have been from Black Lives Matter.

It was riddled with myths, hyperbole, and read in part:

“The events of this past year have shown just how toxic and prevalent systemic and individual racism are to our community. We understand more deeply than ever the need to listen, learn and empathize in order to find ways to move forward together to build a more just community for all. We are horrified and ashamed that this keeps happening to Black people in our community and many other cities across our country.”

I wonder if the front office realizes their fan base is about 95% white, and BLM is now openly pro-terrorist.

Regardless, since the April 20 statement, the Twins have lost 19 of 27 games. And it serves ownership right.

“Since the days of Kirby Puckett, the Twins have been one of my top AL teams. Now, due to Baldelli and BLM, I actively root for them to lose,” a friend in Pennsylvania told me. “It’s bad enough that you have to sit through the politicization of the game with their fake social justice signage and manager who adheres to silly analytics, only to sit through a slugfest by the opponent. It’s an organization that clearly cares more about appealing to divisive liberal agendas instead of winning baseball for ALL Minnesotans to enjoy.”

As the franchise prepares to welcome back more fans to Target Field, will that include those who detest woke left-wing politics? No wonder overall attendance has sagged to only 9,000 per game.

A Star Tribune podcast earlier this week recommended that Twins fans “be happy for pleasant surprises. Go in with zero expectations.”

That’s almost as pitiful as partisan political crusades.

 

A.J. Kaufman

A.J. Kaufman is an Alpha News columnist. His work has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Florida Sun-Sentinel, Indianapolis Star, Israel National News, Orange County Register, St. Cloud Times, Star-Tribune, and across AIM Media Midwest and the Internet. Kaufman previously worked as a school teacher and military historian.