Watch Twins fans at Target Field lose their minds the moment the playoff losing streak ended

It was cathartic pandemonium at Target Field.

Wild Card Series - Toronto Blue Jays v Minnesota Twins - Game One
Wild Card Series - Toronto Blue Jays v Minnesota Twins - Game One / Adam Bettcher/GettyImages

Minnesota Twins fans waited 6,397 days to watch their team win a playoff game, but they waited even longer to watch it happen at him.

By now everyone knows about the Twins last playoff win back in 2004, but it happened in New York. Minnesota’s last home playoff win was all the way back in 2002, when the Twins beat Oakland at the old Metrodome on their way to clinching the ALDS a game later.

If we’re talking streaks, that series victory over the A’s was the last time the Twins advanced in the MLB Playoffs. That’s the next streak the team is looking to snap after finally ending its miserable 18-game skid on Tuesday night against Toronto.

Cathartic doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling Twins fans had when the final out was recorded to seal the win. A few weirdos tried to get off jokes about fans celebrating too much but it’s impossible to articulate the utter feeling of hopelessness fans in Twins Territory have felt for the last two decades.

Minnesota was cursed to be the Charlie Brown to New York, Oakland, and Houston’s Lucy who constantly pulled the football away. Pavlov’s dogs weren’t as trained as Twins fans were to the instant feeling of dread whenever the postseason arrived.

All of that ended on Tuesday, as the most miserable playoff curse in professional sports ended and a new chapter officially began. These aren’t the Twins we’ve seen in the past, and fans who were at Target Field to witness a high point in the franchise’s history celebrated the way they deserved.

Watch Twins fans lose their minds the moment the playoff losing streak

Jhoan Duran came out in the ninth inning to close out a 3-1 victory over the Blue Jays, largely without much drama. When Duran closed out the AL Central clinching game against the Angels, things got a lot dicier than anyone would have preferred but he got the job done nonetheless.

The same can be said about Tuesday night, albeit thankfully without as much stress. Clinching the AL Central was essentially one extended nine inning celebration, and the Game 1 win over Toronto had packed all of that and more into cathartic euphoria after the final out was recorded.

This is what nearly two decades of pent up angst and disappointment being relieved sounds like:

Nothing about Tuesday’s win felt like a sure thing until it was official, but Royce Lewis did his best to obliterate any traces of a postseason curse all on his own. The rookie launched home runs in back-to-back plate apperances, and become just the third player in history to hit two home runs in his first two at-bats.

Lewis was a revelation for the Twins, but he represented something more than what most are taking at face value. Yes, the long terrible postseason nightmare is over, but Lewis is leading a version of the Twins feels different from all the rest we’ve seen try to make it in the playoffs.

Pitching is a strength, the offense has power, and the team made some great defensive plays that in years past we’d be looking at as moments that slipped away from them and caused yet another loss. Carlos Correa had a clutch throw out at home that bailed out Jorge Polanco’s second goof of the game, and Michael A. Taylor saved two runs with a magnificent catch against the outfield wall.

Those are the types of breaks that usually went the other way in years past, but this time around the Twins were on the right side. Something about this team feels different, and fans at Target Field — and throughout Twins Territory — felt is on Tuesday night.

More Minnesota Twins news and analysis

feed