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The Big Picture

To Build A Home

There was a time, not so long ago, that the Minnesota Twins fanbase knew only one outcome. For close to two decades, no amount of momentum or excellence could counter the brick wall that awaited them in the postseason. 18 consecutive times, the Twins threw all they had at that wall. They chipped, scraped, clawed, and flung themselves at it. In so many moments, it looked like they were through. But in the end, they were left unable to breach it. And in the aftermath, we were left scarred by
Chris Hanel

Chris Hanel in The Big Picture

5
hope

The Precipice of Possible

It's easy to have hope when all is in front of you, and there's nothing left to lose. The 2025 Twins stand at an intoxicating crossroads. And no, I do not include the Pohlads in this equation - I'm referring to whichever 26 players end up being asked to bear the burden of taking this team to the postseason over the next few months, payroll and franchise financials be damned. Given the status of things, this should logically be a rebuilding year. In fact, let's take stock of recent even
Chris Hanel

Chris Hanel in hope

2
Mauer

A few (more) words on Joe Mauer.

I didn't wanna see him go in 2018. While I sat at home watching the Twins play on a perfect Minnesota night in September, Mauer came to the plate in the bottom of the 5th inning against the nemesis New York Yankees, and the ingredients were in place for this at-bat to be something special. The Twins were up 6-1 and the bases were loaded, and everyone watching knew Joe Mauer had exactly one thing on his mind: taking the first pitch, which he did, for a ball. Because that was Joe's proce
Chris Hanel

Chris Hanel in Mauer

4
why

Dear Twins: Don't Just Play Better, Be Better

I might love the Twins, and defend them even during some of the darkest times, but that also means being honest even when it hurts. That kind of tough love was exactly what came to mind when Tyler Duffey used his relief appearance in a close contest to 'send a message' by throwing behind Yermin Mercedes on only the fourth pitch of his appearance. Everyone seemed to know it was coming. Tony La Russa, fresh from using his media time all but telling the Twins they *should* bean Mercedes, had a
Chris Hanel

Chris Hanel in why

4
why

On Narrative

If you're expected to win, and then fail to do so in spectacular fashion, people are going to have thoughts. It's also safe to assume that those thoughts don't stay surface level for very long. For the 2021 Twins, the last few weeks have been a long trudge past the acceptance of things as they are, and have begun to approach the next station down the line: Why? "Why" is an important question that has consumed the game of baseball since its creation. It is a question that drives everyon
Chris Hanel

Chris Hanel in why

2

69 Billion to One: The True Futility of the Twins Postseason

Yes, the number in the title is not an exaggeration. The true odds of the moment we find ourselves in at the close of the Twins 2020 postseason campaign, brief as it was, comes to one in 69 billion. Somewhere in the galaxy, Zaphod Beeblebrox fired up the Improbability drive and Minnesota got caught in the wake.   Let's do some math, shall we?   Setting a baseline   Now, there's a very good chance you've seen the number 262,144 floating around Twins Twitter in the last day or two, and that's beca
Chris Hanel

Chris Hanel

4

Pitch Framing: A sabermetric based analysis of Twins play-by-play broadcaster Dick Bremer

Over the past decade, pitch framing has become a hot topic, not only in how we've begun to identify its value, but also in finding methods to quantify it, and coming to grips with its influence on the game. However, I contend that our focus has been far too narrow, and we must look beyond the catcher- in fact, past the backstop, into the stands, up to the media boxes, and directly at the role of play-by-play broadcaster. How the game's on-camera talent describe the action shapes our measurement
Chris Hanel

Chris Hanel

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