Twins have been fortunate to have great closers

[Steak]

Joe Christensen wrote another great piece as he talked about Joe Nathan on Wednesday's Strib. He talked about how lot of teams closers has had problems this entire season and how fortunate the Twins have been to have a guy as reliable as Joe Nathan. This has me thinking. Twins has had so many great closers forever. Ever since I became a fan of the Twins, I enjoyed watching guys like Reardon, Aguilera, Hawkins (he was the closer when the team stunk), Guardado, and now Joe Nathan. One of the biggest reasons for a team to have a success if to have a team to have a reliable closer and the Twins has had that forever. Closers are not as automatic as they seem to been. Go ask other team fanbases about how frustrating it is to have a closer that is unreliable. Twins fans has had it great with closers for years. I never thought Joe Nathan would be this good and deep down I am not even sure if the Twins thought that way too. Twins were hoping to get lucky with him and then groom Jesse Crain as a closer eventually. So far there is no need for that as Joe has been automatic in the ninth inning.

[Morneau_27]

Twins were hoping to get lucky with him and then groom Jesse Crain as a closer eventually. So far there is no need for that as Joe has been automatic in the ninth inning.

I agree. Twins front office deserve alot of credit for always finding an awsome closer and good arms in the bullpen. Teams can not compete in the 162 regular season and playoffs with weak benches.

Jesse Crain is gonna be awsome i think. I don't know who to compare him to, but i've seen him only a few times in Minnesota but alot in Rochester, and he's always played awsome and never looked out of place.

But, I don't think Crain will be the future closer. Rochester has this rookie this year, Travis Bowyer. He had been awsome in the lower leagues, and is a rookie this season in Rochester. Everyone (who know baseball and love the Red Wings) tells me they compare Bowyer to Armando Benitez. Bowyer, was named relief man for the month of May.... with stats of 0-1 and 11 saves. 11 saves in a month is also a Red Wings record. He had a 1.42era in that month and appeared in 14 games.