Yes, sadly, the Twins are out of the playoffs. This was going to be the year to beat the Yankees...The Twins have the best pitching staff in the league, including the Cy Young winner and another guy in the top five, they finally have a real cleanup hitter, and the Yankees have proven that they are very beatable. Last year they had Mussina, Pettite, Clemens, and Wells, all of whom struck fear into hitters' hearts; this year they have only Mussina.

Saturday's loss was not nearly as heartbreaking as Wednesday's. On Wendesday they battled back against Gordon and Rivera and actually took the lead in the 12th, only to blow it in the end. Saturday they went with the formula that had worked all year: Rincon in the 8th, Nathan in the 9th, and Rincon had a bad day. If Rincon hadn't done what he did this year the Twins would never have been in the playoffs. Also, he had pitched three hitless innings in the first two games, so there was no reason to suspect he would give up four runs. But it was the Yankees, and they always find a way.

This article sums up pretty well Minnesotans' attitude towards the series. I like the paragraph about the Twins fan who was 8 in 1987. But I watched it happen in '87, and I was at Game 7 in '91, and I do believe that someday the stars will align again and the Twins will be back in the World Series. And I will be waving my Homer Hanky the whole time.