2015 begins: A new hope—or same old disaster?

03/28/2025 08:00 AM

Uh oh

By 2015, frustration with the Minnesota Twins had reached levels not seen since the late-90s. Target Field was still lovely—but no longer bursting at the seams after four consecutive losing seasons.

Yet, 2015 also brought hope—a regime change, new skipper, and return of an old friend portended positivity! But when the games started to matter: disaster.

The Twins opened '15 on a chilly, 52-degree Detroit day—and ran into a David Price (8.2 IP, 5 H, 0 ER) buzz saw. Insult to injury: Joe Nathan retired one batter for the Tiger save.

Phil Hughes struggled—as per the fates—with the gopher balls (one apiece to J.D. Martinez & Alex Avila) and DET cruised to a 4-0 victory.

Oh well—get 'em tomorrow when an ace isn't on the mound.

Alas, tomorrow was yesterday—and even worse. Four measly hits was MIN's offensive tally, while the Tigers erupted for an 11-0 laugher.

Ricky Nolasco struggled—as per the fates—with, well, everything (3 IP, 6 ER) while Tim Stauffer (1.2 IP, 2 ER) provided the opposite of "relief".

Hmmm—let's not get swept in Series #1 under Paul Molitor.

One victory was achieved in the finale—that being Kennys Vargas driving in new 1B Joe Mauer with the season's first MN run. But Kyle Gibson (3.2 IP, 6 ER) was even worse—sorry T.J.—than Hughes & Nolasco and Detroit brought their brooms in a 7-1 victory.

If you are counting at home: 27 innings into 2015 the Twins had put one cleat on home plate and were 0-3.

Chicago's South Side was the second stop of the '15 tour, and while it produced a win (yippee!) it was another series loss.

At long last, the Twins returned to downtown Minneapolis to try and right the ship. I was amongst the 40,123 paying customers on that beautiful 62-degree afternoon and when Brian Dozier & Vargas traded doubles in the first inning things seemed to be looking up.

They were not.

Before one could consume a hot dog and beverage, the visiting Kansas City Royals opened their offensive onslaught and never stopped. Pounding out 13 hits, the KC crew mauled starter Trevor May (5.1 IP, 5 ER) & Stauffer again stunk (1.2 IP, 2 ER).

The end result: 12-3 Royals.

Though the phrase "total system failure" had not yet been coined by Twins ownership, it could have applied to the first week of 2015 action. All signs pointed to another summer slog at 1 Twins Way after the 1-6 start.

Would the slide continue—or would the Twins turn things around under Molly & Torii? Keep reading this summer to find out!