Minnesota Twins: Was 2002 AL Central Champions Team Worthy of a Reunion?

The Minnesota Twins have made some odd decisions over the past couple of months.

Aside from the obvious second guessing that should go on with most of their free-agent signings last winter (Josh Willingham excluded), they also made the decision to celebrate the 2002 Minnesota Twins.

Most teams in baseball will only hold a reunion for a team that won a championship or pennant. In fact, a reunion of an AL Central Championship team raised a couple of eyebrows and added fuel to the fire to the illusion that the Twins only care about being "AL Central Champions of the World."

So as some fans chuckled while Brad Radke, Doug Mientkiewicz and Denny Hocking were introduced to a sold out Target Field Monday afternoon, I had some form of respect for the team that ESPN: The Magazine called "The Team That Saved Baseball."

Prior to the 2002 season, the Twins were subjected to contraction talks with the Montreal Expos. After a promising 2001 season which saw the Twins finish in second place behind the Cleveland Indians, the franchise was looking doomed.

The players were thinking that they would be part of a dispersal draft, and several fans thought that the end of Twins baseball was near.

By the time January rolled around, the Twins finally decided to get to work. They named Ron Gardenhire the new manager over hometown favorite Paul Molitor, and the team developed a mentality of a winner.

On Opening Day in Kansas City that season, Jacque Jones blasted the first of 11 lead-off home runs into the fountains and Kaufman Stadium. The Twins were off and running and built a commanding lead in the AL Central when Bud Selig got in their way again.

Major League Baseball was in a labor dispute that summer. At the time, it was not clear whether the issues would cause a player strike and halt action in the middle of the season. It looked like the Twins were about to become the 2002 version of the 1994 Montreal Expos.

The two sides reached an agreement just before the August 31 deadline, and the Twins won their first division championship since 1991.

In the playoffs, the Twins won a playoff series against the Oakland Athletics and won the first game of the ALCS before getting railed by the (then) eventual World Series champion, Anaheim Angels.

While the Twins came up short on the field, the impact of the 2002 team might have been greater off of it. A new generation of Twins fans was spawned and it helped the support for a new ballpark to replace the Metrodome.

The stadium, now known as Target Field, was passed in the legislative session of 2006 and the future of the Twins was officially no longer in doubt.

So laugh if you want about the Twins celebrating a team that not only won the AL Central Division, but also a team that saved baseball in Minnesota—and won a playoff series (I'm looking at you current Twins!)