It's Time To Play...Whose Fault Is It Anyway?

It's been a head-scratching last week and a half for the Twins.  With the team losing its sixth consecutive game for the third time this season, many Twins fans have been at a loss for words.  We've been accustomed to blaming this dismal 2011 season on the barrage of injuries the team has fallen into, but to use that as an excuse is the coward's way out.  With what we've seen over the last 10 days, blame should be, not so much focused on the players, but more heavily on the coaching staff.

The Twins came back into the friendly confines of Target Field after a rough road trip, only to find the New York Yankees waiting for them in the third base dugout.  As usual, the Bronx Bombers laid waste to the hometown nine, beating them two out of three, ending the series with a 3-0 shutout.  Thankfully, or so it seemed, the Twins welcomed in the last place Baltimore Orioles for a four-game series, which, for all intensive purposes, should've been a chance for this club to save a little face and redeem themselves a little bit toward the end of this season.

That didn't happen.

The Twins were swept by the Orioles in a four-game series for the first time in their franchise's history.  Adding insult to (numerous) injuries, the Twins scored only one run in each of the four games.  After falling to the Detroit Tigers 8-1 in the first game of their three-game series on Friday night, that brought the total to five runs in six games (counting the final game of the Yankees' series).  Five total runs in 54 total innings.  Truly a sad state of affairs.

Sure, there were a few mental lapses in the field.  Of course, the pitching staff had its problems, namely Francisco Liriano, who landed on the disabled list with shoulder pain after pitching only two innings in Thursday's loss to Baltimore.  However, to score only one run in five consecutive games is down-right pitiful, and that can't be blamed on anyone but hitting coach, Joe Vavra.

As of August 26th, the Twins offense as been absolutely offensive:

• Rank 11th in Batting Average (.248)
• Rank 14th in Home Runs (81)
• Rank 13th in Runs Batted In (458)
• Rank 13th in Extra Base Hits (311)
• Rank 13th in On-Base Percentage (.306)
• Rank 12th in Runs (347)

Looking at those numbers, regardless of injuries in the lineup, is shameful.  Unfortunately, it appears that it's "OK" to produce that quality of play, given the lack of accountability.

Through July 20th, a total of four Major League hitting coaches had been relieved of their positions, including the American League West-leading Texas Rangers.  At the time of Thad Bosley's firing on June 8th, the Rangers ranked second in the American League in Batting Average (.264) and second in Home Runs (72).  The Twins currently have nine more home runs than Texas had...over two and a half months ago.  The Rangers' batting average at that time was almost 20 points higher than that of the Twins...for the entire season.

The Rangers let Bosley go primarily because it appeared that his message had been lost.  The players seemed to not respond to his coaching, and thus, a change needed to be made.  At the time, the Rangers held a 2.5 game lead over the Seattle Mariners, and had gone 7-3 in their previous 10 games, yet, manager Ron Washington felt that it was a move that would improve his team overall.  Fast forward to the here-and-now, and the Rangers hold a three-game lead over the Los Angeles Angels.

So, why is it that Joe Vavra remains untouchable, or more importantly, remains immune to accountability?  Other hitting coaches have been held accountable for their teams' poor performances, so why hasn't he?  The Indians, Dodgers, and Marlins joined the Rangers in dismissing their hitting coaches.  Some of them had even better numbers than the Twins do currently, but it wasn't good enough for those organizations to keep them around.  So, why is it good enough for the Twins?

Now, I'm not saying that it isn't difficult to coach players who are playing ahead of themselves.  The Twins have had to play a number of not-ready-for-prime-time players this season.  That's not something that's lost on me.  However, there needs to be a line drawn in the sand, and there needs to at least be some action taken to show the Twins' faithful fans that this isn't something that is "OK" or that will be tolerated.

Vavra may be one of the nicest guys in baseball, as has been said many times by a number of different people close to the Twins and their players.  But, just because you're a "nice guy" doesn't mean you're the "right guy" for the job.  The blame can not fall solely on the players themselves.  The definition of a coach, however, is to "train and instruct," or "give someone extra or private teaching."  When a team looks as undisciplined at the plate as the Twins have looked this season, some instruction and/or extra teaching seems like it would be necessary.

Scoring only one run per game in five consecutive games is embarrassing, and there's no two ways about it.  There are teams out there with far less talent than the Twins, namely teams like the Oakland A's or the Baltimore Orioles.  Those teams have better numbers; hitting for higher averages driving in more runs.  So, to say the reason is because the Twins don't have their best players in the lineup is a complete cop out, especially when lesser teams are making due with what they have.

What has always set the Twins apart from other teams is that they do things their own way, and don't always conform to the "norm" in baseball.  There's no greater example than the fact that, different from any other team, they refuse to make the necessary coaching changes, and decide to make it a "player issue".  The sooner they are honest with themselves, the sooner we can expect to be near the top of the American League again.