Ron Gardenhire is Upset With the Twins... So is Everyone Else that Matters

Ah... it feels good to wake up and know the Twins are 13 games back.

The wrong side of the bed is appearing more and more to be the right side of the bed and I do not like it... especially since I sleep in the middle. I'm sure Joe Mauer, right-fielder, feels the same.

I know Ron Gardenhire does. He spoke with reporters during the Twins pregame talk on Saturday and expressed his frustration with what he describes as a general misunderstanding of baseball fundamentals. We know what he's talking about. Ben Revere swinging at a 2-0 pitch when the Twins are down 6-1, Danny Valencia not charging bunts hit by faster players, Trevor Plouffe sailing throw after throw over the 1st-baseman-of-the-day's head. Seriously. It has been very tough to watch, especially for someone so emotionally invested in the Twins.

Perhaps this season wouldn't have been so bad if we had older, more experienced players frequent the dugout more, but no. Instead, we were blessed with a DL list as long as Marino Rivera's career. We have all these young guys that made it to the majors and want to stay there. Understandable. However, fundamentals are key. That's why they are called fundamentals. Any athlete worth his jersey knows you won't improve, you won't win if you can't get the basics right. That's what the Twins are learning now.

Gardenhire called it perfectly, "mistakes happen every once in awhile, but they shouldn't happen all the time."