This is the End.....

The 2009 Twins baseball season ended Sunday night with a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The loss ended the Twins' magical run to the AL Central Division title - the team's fifth in eight years under manager Ron Gardenhire - as well as 28 seasons of baseball at the Metrodome.

My Examiner homepage will continue to have an abundance of Twins-related coverage in the off-season, and it should be an eventful one for GM Bill Smith and his lieutenants. Continue to check that site out for all the latest. I will try to do some simultaneous posts here at DP to supplement the coverage, when necessary.

For now, remember the tremendously inspired baseball the beat-up squad played to overtake the Tigers. Also, remember the dramatic game #163, which will go down as one for the ages. It will help take the sting out of the finality of the disappointing three-game sweep at the hands of the Bronx Bombers.

With 1-3 inches of snow accumulating outside my window right now in suburban Minneapolis, it's going to be a long winter. Memories of the season's final three weeks will help keep things light this off-season.