Why do the Yankees own the Twins like this?

[Bellhorn04]

It's one of the confounding mysteries of baseball.

 

If there's no such thing as momentum, how come the Yankees have been beating the Twins' heads in without fail for the last two decades or so?

 

I'll compile the numbers, but first I have to make sure my stomach is fully settled, because I don't want to get sick on my keyboard.

[moonslav59]

Honest to God, I almost posted this:

 

Does the whole state of Minnesota run and hide their first borns when the Twins play the Yanks?

[Bellhorn04]

Here are the incredible, mind-boggling numbers for the 20 year period 2002-2021 up to last night's game:

 

Regular season

Yankees 91

Twins 36

 

Postseason

Yankees 16

Twins 2

 

Total

Yankees 107

Twins 38

 

That's a .738 winning pct. for the Yankees in 145 games, equivalent to 120 wins in a 162 game schedule.

 

The Twins have not won a season series against the Yankees since 2001-they tied 3-3 in 2005 and 2006.

 

And they have lost 5 postseason series, winning no more than 1 game in any of them, and 1 Wild Card game.

[moonslav59]

What makes these numbers even more shocking is that the Twins have not been a bad team for most of these seasons.

 

They’ve made the playoffs 9 times since 2002.

 

I wonder what their record is in non Yankee games since then.

[Kimmi]

I think it's fair to say that in most of those seasons, the Yankees had a stronger team. Even in the seasons that the Twins made the postseason, the Yankees had a better record.

That still doesn't fully explain the extreme lopsidedness of their records against each other, but that's some of it.

 

Outside of that, it's one of those unanswerable mysteries of baseball.

[Bellhorn04]

Updated for today's 7-1 trouncing:

 

108-38 .740

[Kimmi]

Updated for today's 7-1 trouncing:

 

108-38 .740

 

What do you think the reason is that the Yankees own the Twins?

[Bellhorn04]

What do you think the reason is that the Yankees own the Twins?

 

There has to be some sort of defeatism on the part of the Twins. They must feel like they're going to lose before they hit the field. It's the only thing I can figure.

[dgalehouse]

It could be that the Twins are psyched out . I don't know. When there is no logical explanation for something it is always good to fall back on Yankee announcer John Sterling's quote , " That's baseball , Susyn."

[Kimmi]

There has to be some sort of defeatism on the part of the Twins. They must feel like they're going to lose before they hit the field. It's the only thing I can figure.

 

While I won't rule out that possibility, it's not like it's the same players on the Twins over the past 20 years. It's kind of hard to imagine that several different teams of players would have a defeatist attitude.

[Kimmi]

It could be that the Twins are psyched out . I don't know. When there is no logical explanation for something it is always good to fall back on Yankee announcer John Sterling's quote , " That's baseball , Susyn."

 

That's about as good an explanation as any.

[moonslav59]

There has to be some sort of defeatism on the part of the Twins. They must feel like they're going to lose before they hit the field. It's the only thing I can figure.

 

So, it’s a repeatable non skill.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

There has to be some sort of defeatism on the part of the Twins. They must feel like they're going to lose before they hit the field. It's the only thing I can figure.

 

This is the gist of the choke post and how outside and inside pressure builds (cue signs and jeers of "1918!") and can affect performance. Most here must admit the feasibility of this concept vs. say the opposite of the "cool, calm, clutch" guys...

[bkzwhitestrican]

NYC leads the nation in twin killings.

[dgalehouse]

NYC leads the nation in twin killings.

 

That's pretty good.

[Kimmi]

This is the gist of the choke post and how outside and inside pressure builds (cue signs and jeers of "1918!") and can affect performance. Most here must admit the feasibility of this concept vs. say the opposite of the "cool, calm, clutch" guys...

 

I do believe that players start pressing when things are not going well, and that could lead to continued slumping. I don't consider that to be the same thing as choke though.

 

Also, do you think that, year after year, the players that have never played for the Twins before would have that defeatist attitude?

[Bellhorn04]

I do believe that players start pressing when things are not going well, and that could lead to continued slumping. I don't consider that to be the same thing as choke though.

 

Also, do you think that, year after year, the players that have never played for the Twins before would have that defeatist attitude?

 

It's all very weird for sure.

 

The only comparison I can think of is 2 university sports teams that play each other every year and one team always beats the other. It almost becomes a 'tradition' and the losers just expect to lose again.

[Kimmi]

It's all very weird for sure.

 

The only comparison I can think of is 2 university sports teams that play each other every year and one team always beats the other. It almost becomes a 'tradition' and the losers just expect to lose again.

 

Yes, it's very weird, for sure.

 

Fangraphs did a study of the Yankees' dominance over the Twins for the 2002-2011 seasons, including postseason. Based on each teams records and run differentials, the Twins were expected to win 33.3 games out of 75. They only won 18 of those games. Statistically speaking, that result is way out there, as in it's something that just shouldn't happen.

 

The author poses some possibilities of why the Yankees have such a large extra added advantage, most of those possibilities dealing with team construction and management tactics. The folks at Fangraphs (including commenters) don't think it has anything to do with the defeatist attitude.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/investigating-the-yankees-dominance-of-the-twins/