Jim Souhan: Gardy gets a blessing from Sparky

DETROIT - You can't always parse Sparky Anderson's words for deep meaning. This is a man who once called Jose Canseco a "Greek Goddess," who once said "me carrying a briefcase is like a hot dog wearing earrings."

Sometimes, though, the leathery little baseball jester speaks from a place closer to the frontal lobe than the funny bone. Monday, after he arrived at Comerica Park to be honored on the 25th anniversary of the Tigers' 1984 World Series championship, Anderson summoned Twins manager Ron Gardenhire for a private chat.

"I was in awe," Gardenhire said. "He really likes what we do here. That was pretty cool. It was honestly one of those times when you just melt."

Gardenhire should be liquid by now. Current managers Ozzie Guillen and Jim Leyland have raved about Gardenhire, with Leyland saying last year he considered Gardenhire the best manager in the game.

This was different, though. This was a Hall of Fame manager Gardenhire idolized as a kid going out of his way during a reunion to offer praise and advice. Anderson even took time during his on-field speech to point to Leyland and Gardenhire, calling them "two of the best in the business."

The Sparkler is right. This might be Gardenhire's finest hour.

Gardenhire has won with Doug Mientkiewicz batting third, with Eddie Guardado closing games with 89-miles-per-hour fastballs, with players who disappeared (Jacque Jones, Dustan Mohr, Bobby Kielty, Luis Rivas) or never really arrived (Tony Batista, Juan Castro, Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, Craig Monroe), and while depending every year on young, unproven players.

The Twins have won 11 of 13 despite having lost most of their original rotation and their former MVP because of injuries.

The current rotation is Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Carl Pavano, Brian Duensing and TBA. The daily lineup includes Matt Tolbert and Nick Punto, who have combined for three home runs and a .229 average, and Delmon Young, a supposed power hitter who might yet reach double-digit homers if the wind blows just right.

General Manager Bill Smith has made surgical strikes: The additions of Orlando Cabrera, Pavano, Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay have bolstered a patchwork roster.

The manager held this mess together, though. The Twins were 56-62 on Aug. 17; they have gone 25-12 since, even while losing Justin Morneau for the season and changing an entire infield. (It was supposed to be Joe Crede, Punto at short, Alexi Casilla at second and Morneau at first; instead it's Tolbert at third, Cabrera at short, Punto at second and Michael Cuddyer at first.)

I asked Gardenhire if this represented his best work. "I don't know," he said. "I let everybody else decide those things. You know what? It was probably as frustrating as it's been here, when about a month ago it felt like we were about to go on a run, and then we'd fall back, and you're trying to figure out what we're trying to do here.

"As a manager, when you struggle, you honestly don't want to sit back and blame it on injuries. You want to figure it out. That's my job.

"So we're figuring something out, anyway. We're close."

Anderson told Gardenhire to "use your eyes."

"Tom Kelly told me the same thing," Gardenhire said. "Watch the game, see the whole field, you know what's right and wrong by what you see. Just coming from Sparky, I walked out of there thinking, 'Holy Cow, that was impressive, just to be able to talk to him.'"

Apparently Anderson was thinking the same thing.