Minnesota Twins: Ron Gardenhire Makes Good

Ron Gardenhire is one of the most enigmatic figures in sports. Outsiders look at Gardy and see a top-flight manager, a real players' coach, and a coach that will fight for his players (he's been ejected 38 times in his career).

Die-hard Twins fans, however, those that should know Gardy best, tend to see a coach who mismanages the bullpen, favors "Veteran Presence" over real talent, platoons players unnecessarily, and generally makes a mockery of the office Tom Kelly once held.

This discrepancy has fostered interesting debate, but nothing ever seems to come of it. The Twins 9-0 run may have provided the first piece of hard evidence as to whether Gardy is really lucky or a skilled manager.

During the afternoon broadcast of the Twins last game in San Diego, Bert Blyleven revealed that Gardenhire had called a meeting before the series opened in Milwaukee. The Twins were reeling at that point, having lost six of their last seven games, and then, suddenly, they were playing inspired baseball, sweeping three straight series.

Blyleven said that Gardy took a few specific players to task for lax play, and generally scolded the team for their gross underperformance.

Whether or not that meeting actually lit a fire under the team isn't clear, but the fact that he did it, and that it was important enough that someone told Blyleven about it, is a good sign. Here are three other smart moves that Gardy has made during this hot streak.

Benching Delmon Young

One of the closest games during this streak was the final match against the D-backs. Brandon Webb isn't usually a pitcher who needs much run support, so when Young made a Little League error which led to three runs, he had nearly gift-wrapped the game to Arizona. In the end, he was bailed out by his mirror, when D-backs left fielder Conor Jackson lost a ball in the roof and the Twins scored five runs to win the game.

Instead of letting this error pass unnoticed, Gardy sat his left fielder for all of the San Diego series; Young didn't even pinch hit. Jason Kubel got all the of playing time in the field, Craig Monroe got the pinch hitting opportunities, and hopefully Young got the message that he needs to step up his game or he will be replaced.

Benching Mike Lamb

Lamb isn't as bad as Nick Punto was last year, but he has been one of the worst players on the team. After a terrible April, Lamb rebounded to a decent May...which made his drop in June all the more precipitous. Lamb is 1-for-29 in June, and, unlike Nick Punto, doesn’t have plus defense to bail him out.

Brian Buscher, on the other hand, has been one of the Twins hottest hitters. He's tied for the fifth highest VORP on the team, has an OBP over .400, and plays very tight defense.

Gardy met with Lamb during the last homestand to explain why he, Lamb, would be riding pine until further notice. Lamb understood, as a vet should, and the team is much better for it.

Keeping Nick Punto on the de facto DL

Ron Gardenhire LOVES Nick Punto. Loves him like Republicans love flag lapel pins, like Kevin McHale loves ruining the Timberwolves, and like Jon Stewart loves stupid people. So, when Nick Punto was activated off the DL, most fans expected to see Nicky in place of one of Buscher, Alexi Casilla, or Brendan Harris.

The fact that Punto's shadow never so much as emerged from the dugout allowed Buscher (5-for-10, 4R, HR), Harris (3-for-11, 2HR, eight-game hitting streak), and Casilla (3-for-12, 3R, six-game hitting streak) to do substantial damage on the field. Harris, the player most likely to lose out to Punto, hit two key home runs that helped the Twins continue their hot streak.

Three great decisions made by Gardy to help the Twins stay hot. His job has been made easier by players like Buscher and Harris stepping forward and basically demanding more playing time. Nevertheless, Gardy has pushed all the right buttons to help the Twins remain the hottest team in Major League Baseball.