For four glorious months, the Minnesota Twins were the darlings of the baseball world.

They erased a 12{-game deficit to win the AL Central title on the regular season's final day, earning praise and attention heading into an unlikely playoff appearance.

Then, just like that, it was over. Their World Series dreams swept away in convincing fashion by the Oakland Athletics, who outplayed them in every facet of the game.

``It's disheartening to see how good we played over the last four months and then lose the first three games,'' pitcher Brad Radke said. ``There's really no words for it. It just didn't happen.''

Now all the Twins can do is look back fondly on a stunning regular season comeback story and look forward to building on what they started.

Just who will be there to lead the team when spring training opens in February is still to be determined.

Radke is almost certainly going to retire after 12 hard-nosed seasons and an inspiring finish to his final one. He pitched Game 3 with a torn labrum and broken shoulder socket in his pitching arm, instantly cementing him as one of the toughest players in franchise history.

Centre fielder Torii Hunter, the unquestioned king of the clubhouse who is coming off a career year at the plate, is also a question mark. The club must decide whether to pick up his option, which would pay him US$12 million next season, try to negotiate a long-term deal with the fan favourite or let him leave in free agency.

``Those two guys are a big part of the team,'' said Joe Mauer, who hit .347 to become the first catcher to win the AL batting title. ``Losing either one won't help.''

Hunter has said he would prefer to sign a long-term deal rather than enter next season with a one-year contract, but also made it clear he won't take a pay cut to stay in Minnesota.

``Torii has been a great guy and a great player,'' said New Westminster, B.C., native Justin Morneau. ``He carried us through September and got us to where we got to. He's so big in the city you can't imagine someone else playing centre field in Minnesota. He's one of the first guys you think of when you think of the Twins.''

Plenty of players are coming back, including Mauer, AL Cy Young favourite Johan Santana, MVP candidate Morneau and a healthy Francisco Liriano, whose dazzling rookie season was cut short by arm problems in August.

The piranhas will be back too _ Luis Castillo, Nick Punto, Jason Tyner and Jason Bartlett _ causing havoc on the bases and jump-starting Twins rallies by beating out infield hits and playing great defence.

And while the season ended so ugly, the Twins have plenty to be proud of when looking back.

They got career seasons from Punto, Tyner and Bartlett, who all hovered around .300 and injected some much-needed life into a team that was all but finished in May.

Michael Cuddyer emerged as the reliable cleanup hitter the team has so desperately needed, hitting 24 homers and knocking in 109 runs; Morneau (34) and Hunter (31) became the first Twins since 1987 to hit at least 30 homers in a season; and Santana so dominated the second half of the season that he is garnering some consideration for AL MVP.

``We had a great season,'' Hunter said. ``We have a guy who's a batting champion, a guy who's a possible MVP, a guy who's a Cy Young. We have a lot of good guys and good players.''

Then, of course, there was the comeback.

Down 12{ games in June and 10{ on Aug. 7, the Twins finished the season a major league-best 70-33 to capture their fourth division title in five seasons.

They led the league in hitting, their bullpen had the best ERA in baseball and they finally got legislative approval for a new outdoor ballpark that is scheduled to open in 2010, ending a decade-long struggle to get out of the dingy Metrodome.

``When we do look back at this year, we can remember it as a special year,'' Morneau said. ``We did things no one expected us to do. It's tough right now. This is the best team I've been a part of. We did a lot this year and we can keep our heads up and move on.''