Before each of the last five Minnesota Twins’ seasons, I have made a $20 bet with my eldest brother:  I would bet on the Twins winning the American League Central Division, he would bet not.  I could never understand why he would continually bet against the team he’d been rooting for his entire life.  And worst of all, he did it with a smirk.  It almost seemed like he was rooting against them.  His pessimism was the principle reason I would make this annual wager.

But I am now beginning to understand it.  This brother of mine is nearing 42 years of age.  He bared witness to two World Series Championships, ‘87 and ‘91, arguably two of the greatest World Series in the history of the game.  But he also struggled through the miserable abyss that defined the Minnesota Twins for nearly a decade after.  And that struggle seems to have overtaken any “half-glass full” optimism he may have had left.  

I have already placed my 2009 Central Division wager with my brother.  And with the roster that looks to take the Metrodome field on April 6th, I have never been more confident.