The 2022 Philadelphia Phillies finished the regular season with an 87-75 record — decent enough, to be sure, but a distant 14 games back in their own division behind two 101-game winners (Atlanta and the New York Mets).
Phillies' run to World Series a reminder of the joy brought by 1987 Minnesota Twins
Minnesota fans haven't been treated to such a run in a very long time.
October 26, 2022 at 10:03PM
They had the worst record of any National League playoff qualifier and the second-worst record of any team in MLB's expanded 12-team postseason.
All of that might frustrate purists who want to see the best regular-season teams rewarded. But it matters nothing to the Phillies or their fans, who are experiencing perhaps the greatest joy in all of sports: unexpected postseason success.
Their berth in the World Series, which begins Friday against the 106-win, undefeated in the postseason Astros, is a journey to envy.
And it's a reminder of how long it's been in Minnesota since fans were treated to anything like it.
The closest parallel is the 1987 Twins, who won just 85 games but still prevailed in a weak division (then the AL West) before pulling off upsets of the Tigers and Cardinals on the way to winning a championship.
The 1987 Vikings nearly pulled off the same feat, shrugging off an 8-7 regular season (including 0-3 with replacement players during the labor dispute) and pulling two playoff upsets before falling just short against Washington in the NFC title game.
Since then? The 1991 Twins were a great worst-to-first story during the regular season, but their second World Series title was hardly stunning.
The Vikings have produced a few moments, including a 2004 playoff win at Lambeau Field after limping into the postseason at 8-8, but generally their habit has been to suffer unexpected defeats.
The Twins' ALDS win in 2002 was a nice surprise, but they haven't even won a playoff game since 2004. The Wild's shocking run to the Western Conference finals in 2003 qualifies, but we're talking about almost 20 years since then. The Wolves have never made a surprising run (in part because they have only advanced in the playoffs during one season).
Nothing about the Lynx dynasty was surprising, particularly in retrospect. Minnesota United reaching the MLS Western Conference Finals in 2020 was nice, but it came during the odd pandemic season and they did finish fourth in the conference.
Success-starved Minnesota fans would likely take a playoff run any way then can get it.
But an unexpected run like the one the Phillies are on right now would be particularly sweet.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
