Stop By, Say Hi (Get To Know Us)

[TheLeviathan]

I've always been impressed with how your kid rocks that Paw Patrol outfit BK.

 

And I've always secretly hated you for prompting the theme song to that show to start in my head every time I see your avatar.....

[Target Field of Dreams]

Love this!

 

I'm 32 years old, married with 3 boys living in Roseville, MN. Born and raised in the Twin Cities and lifelong Twins fan....mostly instilled in me from an early age by my dad. My earliest baseball memories were from when the Twins were winning World Series titles. The 1991 series, has been and will always be one of my fondest memories. Anytime I see a game 7 replay or watch an old grainy video on youtube of that game, I am taken back to my friends basement with us all huddled around their "fancy" wood framed television hanging on every pitch and then crazily jumping around and sprinting around their neighborhood yelling at the top of our lungs after Larkin's game winner.

 

Outside of game 7 of 1991, some of my other fondest memories are their run back to being legitimate contenders in 2000 and 2001, their deep run against the Angels in 2002,  game 163 win against the Tigers at the dome and Thome's game winning home run in the 10th inning of an August game against the White Sox in 2010.

 

Favorite all time Twins:

Killebrew (though well before my time), Kirby, Brian Harper, Chili Davis, Brad Radke, Rick Aguilera, Doug Mientkiewicz, Torii Hunter, Johan Santana, Scott Baker, Morneau, Span, Jim Thome, Brian Dozier, Miguel Sano

 

I've been following TwinsDaily since it launched and keep coming back for the speculation and discussion on where the team should go. I don't post a ton, but love reading up on the analysis so many others on this site provide and love the conversation generated here. If things don't work out with Falvey, maybe the Pohlad's should look at hiring Twins Daily in total as a GM. We'd make some sweet trades, dumping all of our bad players for All Stars and it would be amazing. 

[bluechipper]

I grew up in northern Iowa and am currently attending college. I'm 22 years old, and I have been a Twins fan since around 2007 or 2008 when I started watching nearly every game.

 

My favorite memories are the Joe Mauer MVP season and watching game 163 against the Tigers.

 

My favorite players that I've watched are Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Glen Perkins, Carl Pavano, Brian Dozier, and Denard Span. Watching highlights of great Twins of the past is great too, and hopefully the young crop of current Twins can become favorites soon too.

 

I've been reading TwinsDaily since the beginning, after following Nick over from the Twins ESPN page, and I only started posting about 2 years ago. Its been a lot of fun, as I usually visit the site several times per day.

 

I really enjoy reading the different perspectives that different members of this site have, and I look forward to enjoying the Twins and this site for years to come.

[nicksaviking]

 

 

I came to this site from Twitter...which is where I still do most of my in-game interaction. I'm more a Twitter guy than a TwinsDaily guy in terms of participation, but I visit TD every day. It is always the most intelligent conversation one can find.

 

 

Well if you are drawn to intelligent conversation, there's really no conceivable argument we could make that will convince you to participate in our game threads.

[spinowner]

 

Well if you are drawn to intelligent conversation, there's really no conceivable argument we could make that will convince you to participate in our game threads.

Oh, I don't know about that. There's a difference between unintelligent and silly.

[ashbury]

Oh, I don't know about that. There's a difference between unintelligent and silly.

We do our best to obliterate that difference.

[Vanimal46]

Some of our best material is in the game threads! So what if we veer off into discussing school lunches, or things that are green.... Enjoy the journey! 

[spinowner]

 

Some of our best material is in the game threads! So what if we veer off into discussing school lunches, or things that are green.... Enjoy the journey! 

That's redundant.

[LimestoneBaggy]

 

Wasswa Serwanga to you Sconnie as well. 

and I just spit coffee on my work computer screen...thanks Obama Brian

[TwinsCD]

I'm 40 and single living in Orlando but originally from Harrisburg, PA.  I work in sports media and dabble on the side as a high school baseball umpire and basketball referee.  

 

So how does a person become a Twins fan living in the middle of Pirates/Phillies territory?  Well, I became a fan of players before I became a fan of teams.  Our cable system would be able to pick up WPIX out of NY and the station in Baltimore that carried Orioles games so I'd see them play the Twins and was taken by the way Kirby played the game.  I also remember during the old NBC Game of the Week days where Bob Costas had made the bet with Kirby that he'd name his upcoming baby after him if he was leading the batting race at the time.  Then the Twins went on that run in 87 and I was hooked (or cursed, depending on the year) from then on.  

 

Favorite players growing up to now include Hrbek, Mauer, Morneau, Hunter, Radke.  I cursed the Brunansky for Herr trade the day it was made and hated Herr during his entire Twins stay.  I also cursed every time Allan Anderson took the mound, though, funny part is he was the starting pitcher in the first Twins game I attended in Baltimore in 1989 (Kirby hit 2 dingers that day).  

 

Favorite non-World Series moments include being in attendance and nearly crying at Game 3 of the 2002 ALDS vs the A's, the first playoff game after all the contraction talk (and my first at the Dome), having a drink with Morneau at a bar in New Britain in 2003 after he got sent down from spring training and telling him that the organization was crazy to do that and he'll be up in no time, seeing the Twins play an exhibition game in New Britain in 2002 (despite being at least 90 minutes late), and seeing Kirby at the Little League World Series in 1997, patting him on the shoulder and him saying thank you to me because I was wearing a replica Kirby jersey.  And even though it sucked that night, I can say that looking back on it, it was fun to be in attendance for the Giambi grand slam in the rain at Yankee Stadium (frickin Trombley).

 

Been on Twins Daily for 3 years now, I think.  Don't remember how I found this place...maybe off of some blog article on ESPN that linked me here.  During the offseason, I'll check in maybe once a month but once spring training ratchets up and the season begins, I'll pop on once a day.  I'll sometimes hang out in the gameday thread if my computer decides it wants to walk and chew gum at the same time since I watch 95% of the games online.

[spinowner]

 

And even though it sucked that night, I can say that looking back on it, it was fun to be in attendance for the Giambi grand slam in the rain at Yankee Stadium (frickin Trombley).

If you were at that game you also saw the most awesome, perfect defensive play in the bottom of the 13th that I'll never forget. Giambi on first, Posada hits a rope over Hunter's head in center, Hunter gets to the ball at the wall, fires a strike to Hocking who fires a strike to AJ to nail Giambi.

[BK432]

 

Well if you are drawn to intelligent conversation, there's really no conceivable argument we could make that will convince you to participate in our game threads.

 

Ha! I actually do like the game threads on occasion But I'm chasing a 4 year old around too much in the early innings to do it proper.

[nicksaviking]

Ha! I actually do like the game threads on occasion But I'm chasing a 4 year old around too much in the early innings to do it proper.

I have that problem also. Early innings and bed time overlap.

[USAFChief]

Early innings and bed time overlap.

A few of us around here with that problem.

[ashbury]

A few of us around here with that problem.

If you didn't say it someone was poised to.

[USAFChief]

If you didn't say it someone was poised to.

Well I think everyone knows who I was talking about.

 

Caughashcaugh

[spinowner]

Man, it's past my bedtime. G'night, all.

[TwinsCD]

 

If you were at that game you also saw the most awesome, perfect defensive play in the bottom of the 13th that I'll never forget. Giambi on first, Posada hits a rope over Hunter's head in center, Hunter gets to the ball at the wall, fires a strike to Hocking who fires a strike to AJ to nail Giambi.

 

Yes sir.  I kept moving my eyes from Giambi to Hunter at the wall and then back to Giambi as he rounded 3rd as Hocking got the ball and as soon as Denny threw it, I was like, 'if it's on line, he's got him (I was sitting to the right of the RF foul pole) and I jumped out of my seat when the umpire rung him up.

[Parker Hageman]

What is your age (or age range, if you prefer):

 

I’ll be turning 35 shortly before the Winter Meltdown, so those attending are welcomed to buy me a birthday shot.

 

How long have you been a Twins fan?

 

I’ve often thought about the process in which someone becomes a “fan” of a team. There’s the simplest one -- geography -- which I would think accounts for a high percentage of how someone became a fan. There’s also the influence of family members as well as accessibility (so many people are Cubs, Braves and Yankees fans throughout the country because getting fed broadcasts of those teams regularly impacted one’s fandom). Then there are people who like a team based on a particular player or stretch of success. Reading through all of your bios, I’ve seen you all mention these factors. It’s great to learn this. Me? I would guess it was geography. Growing up in Minneapolis it was always around, plus it didn’t hurt to have two World Series championships to watch during the formative years.

 

How long have I been a fan?

 

For as long as I can remember. A story: When I was four or five, my aunt and uncle got married. My cousin would be the flower girl and I would be the ring bearer. Looking back at pictures, it was an elegant wedding -- tuxedos, flowing gowns, big poofy 1980s pink weird bridesmaid dresses, flowers everywhere -- the whole nine. However, in the pictures you will see a curly-haired kid in a tuxedo walking a pillow down the aisle wearing a red mesh “TC” cap. I refused to lose the cap even for that special day.

 

My first vivid memory was watching a (what I believe was) 1986 spring training game. There was snow on the ground, and my Dad and I would take breaks watching to run out and work on a snow fort. I distinctly recall there being a montage set to Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On” with Twins highlights in their powder blue unis. Was this a fever dream? Can anyone confirm the existence of that montage?

 

What have a couple of your best Twins memories been?

 

Obviously there are the standard ones -- winning the World Series twice, the 2000’s playoff runs (visits?) and Game 163 in 2009 -- but it is the stuff that happened off the field that I remember more.

 

Here’s one: It’s 2006. I just had my first child that May, we’re living in a condo in downtown St. Paul, broke as jokes and my only form of entertainment was watching the Twins. (Oh yeah, and the joy I got from spending time with my then-infant daughter, you know, each one is a special, little unicorn, yada, yada, yada.) It’s early summer -- June or July at this point -- and my sister calls me up and says she’s got tickets to that afternoon’s game. Great, I think, some adult freedom. Being poor but still wanting to imbibe on an adult beverage at the game, I pour some (a lot of) rum into a diet coke bottle and hop a ride to the light rail station.

 

As I get out of the cab, I see my sister at the station and a train pulling up. I sprint, with the mixed beverage in my cargo shorts, to catch the packed train. The train is mobbed, it’s sunny, it’s hot, so I instinctively reach for the soda for a quick, cooling sip. Naturally, when I go to twist it a fraction of an inch, it blows: RUM AND COKE IS FIRING ALL OVER EVERYBODY IN A TEN FOOT RADIUS. It is one steady stream in a three-hundred and sixty degree circle. It felt like it sprayed forever before I jammed the bottle into my midsection to save the riders from the bath. Now I’m just a rum-soaked idiot who has to wait for an eternity while the train slooooooowly goes from Fort Snelling to the Metrodome.

 

When we get to the game, I have this large brown stain covering my shorts and my shirt but I don’t care because as a new parent -- FREEDOM! Then my sister tells me we are going to meet up on the concourse with one of her other friend’s. This particular friend went to high school with Joe Mauer and that friend is taking Joe Mauer’s then girlfriend, Miss North Carolina Chelsea Cooley, to the game. Ipso facto, we are going to go meet with a Miss USA contestant, something I was not emotionally nor physically prepared for. When we go over to meet them, my sister and her friend immediately run off to get beers or food or use the bathroom or whatever, leaving me to entertain Chelsea Cooley.

 

At that moment I became keenly aware of how big of a slob I look. Here’s Cooley, who looks every bit the Miss USA pageant contest (looking very out of place at the Metrodome, I might add), and me, who is covered in sweat and fermented sugar cane. I probably had baby vomit on my persons somewhere as well. So we stand there in the concrete concourse area, me trying to make small talk and her answering questions like she would on stage during a show. I remember doing an almost rapid-fire interrogation (because god forbid there be a moment of silence) and it crescendoed with me asking the most obvious Minnesota question of out-of-state visitors: SO, HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE MALL YET?

 

I don’t remember who won the game but I will always remember asking Chelsea Cooley if she had visited the Mall of America yet.

 

Who have some of your favorite players been?

 

To me, it’s like having a favorite song or movie. Depending on when you ask me, I will have a different answer. As a kid? Kirby Puckett, no doubt. In retrospect, I think Kent Hrbek is my all-time favorite. Hrbek is of that dying breed of player who just rode his natural talents as far as they would take him without doing much else in the offseason. Not sure players could get away with that anymore.

 

Then there are players who I was aware of but never really consider -- mostly because they were before my time. One I’ve recently become infatuated with is Tom Hall. Maybe I’m wrong -- and, elders, please correct me if I am -- but he seems vastly underrated. In 1970, he struck out 10.7 per nine innings. Only three pitchers who threw 130 innings or more that year had a strikeout rate over 10 and Hall’s was the highest.

 

I found some old footage of him and, boy, he was nasty.

 

http://i.imgur.com/BmOgL8l.gif

 

How long have you been reading Twins Daily (or were you following some writers before Twins Daily)?

 

For far too long.

 

It’s crazy, I didn’t even know blogging about Twins baseball was even a thing until I saw an article which produced this image:

 

http://www.aarongleeman.com/gleemanstartribune.jpg

 

I remember following along a bit with both John and Aaron after that. Then I found Seth’s site. Then Nick’s. And then some others. Somewhere in between all of that I decided to share my own Twins thoughts and created Over The Baggy. I owe Aaron, John and Seth a debt of gratitude in those early days for sharing posts and helping deliver a small audience.

 

What brings you back to Twins Daily? How often do you stop by the site?

 

Obviously because this is the greatest community around. This thread helped reaffirm that.

 

[mickeymental]

One I’ve recently become infatuated with is Tom Hall. Maybe I’m wrong -- and, elders, please correct me if I am -- but he seems vastly underrated. In 1970, he struck out 10.7 per nine innings. Only three pitchers who threw 130 innings or more that year had a strikeout rate over 10 and Hall’s was the highest.

 

I found some old footage of him and, boy, he was nasty.

 

http://i.imgur.com/BmOgL8l.gif

 

 

 

Tommy "The Blade" Hall was indeed a thing of wonder. A long reliever, a spot starter and a strikeout machine, he was six feet tall and maybe 150 pounds after dinner. The Twins had him four years before trading him to Cincinnati after the '71 season, which seemed like a big mistake -- especially to a 13-year-old diehard. He went 10-1 for the '72 season, then gave up one run in 15.1 postseason innings (reds lost to a's in the series). By then he was 24 and his strikeout rate started slipping. He was done at 29 but had an amazing several-season run after reaching the majors at age 20. Infatuation warranted.

[Platoon]

A few of us around here with that problem.

Given the preceding quotes on your early bedtimes, it would appear you GT computer is auto set to one word answers (yes/no), and bunt alerts (WTF)?

[USAFChief]

 

Given the preceding quotes on your early bedtimes, it would appear you GT computer is auto set to one word answers (yes/no), and bunt alerts (WTF)?

no.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I wonder if any of the admin's on TD have the ability to see if in the 5 years of this site's existence you are the very first person to mention Joe Roa.  I don't think I have thought/heard of him since he last walked off the field for the Twins.

 

Not sure if anyone found it or not, but I googled "Twins Daily" "Joe Roa" and it gave one listing...

 

http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/the-all-time-worst-twins-butch-huskey-r5254

 

It's in the comments... 

[Vanimal46]

 

What have a couple of your best Twins memories been?

 

Obviously there are the standard ones -- winning the World Series twice, the 2000’s playoff runs (visits?) and Game 163 in 2009 -- but it is the stuff that happened off the field that I remember more.

 

Here’s one: It’s 2006. I just had my first child that May, we’re living in a condo in downtown St. Paul, broke as jokes and my only form of entertainment was watching the Twins. (Oh yeah, and the joy I got from spending time with my then-infant daughter, you know, each one is a special, little unicorn, yada, yada, yada.) It’s early summer -- June or July at this point -- and my sister calls me up and says she’s got tickets to that afternoon’s game. Great, I think, some adult freedom. Being poor but still wanting to imbibe on an adult beverage at the game, I pour some (a lot of) rum into a diet coke bottle and hop a ride to the light rail station.

 

As I get out of the cab, I see my sister at the station and a train pulling up. I sprint, with the mixed beverage in my cargo shorts, to catch the packed train. The train is mobbed, it’s sunny, it’s hot, so I instinctively reach for the soda for a quick, cooling sip. Naturally, when I go to twist it a fraction of an inch, it blows: RUM AND COKE IS FIRING ALL OVER EVERYBODY IN A TEN FOOT RADIUS. It is one steady stream in a three-hundred and sixty degree circle. It felt like it sprayed forever before I jammed the bottle into my midsection to save the riders from the bath. Now I’m just a rum-soaked idiot who has to wait for an eternity while the train slooooooowly goes from Fort Snelling to the Metrodome.

 

When we get to the game, I have this large brown stain covering my shorts and my shirt but I don’t care because as a new parent -- FREEDOM! Then my sister tells me we are going to meet up on the concourse with one of her other friend’s. This particular friend went to high school with Joe Mauer and that friend is taking Joe Mauer’s then girlfriend, Miss North Carolina Chelsea Cooley, to the game. Ipso facto, we are going to go meet with a Miss USA contestant, something I was not emotionally nor physically prepared for. When we go over to meet them, my sister and her friend immediately run off to get beers or food or use the bathroom or whatever, leaving me to entertain Chelsea Cooley.

 

At that moment I became keenly aware of how big of a slob I look. Here’s Cooley, who looks every bit the Miss USA pageant contest (looking very out of place at the Metrodome, I might add), and me, who is covered in sweat and fermented sugar cane. I probably had baby vomit on my persons somewhere as well. So we stand there in the concrete concourse area, me trying to make small talk and her answering questions like she would on stage during a show. I remember doing an almost rapid-fire interrogation (because god forbid there be a moment of silence) and it crescendoed with me asking the most obvious Minnesota question of out-of-state visitors: SO, HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE MALL YET?

 

I don’t remember who won the game but I will always remember asking Chelsea Cooley if she had visited the Mall of America yet.

 

This is what I envision in my head reading your story... 

[Loosey]

 

Not sure if anyone found it or not, but I googled "Twins Daily" "Joe Roa" and it gave one listing...

 

http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/the-all-time-worst-twins-butch-huskey-r5254

 

It's in the comments... 

Thanks Seth.  That one was found but we deemed it didn't count since the same person who mentioned him in this thread mentioned him in that Butch Huskey Thread.  However, if you go back to February 2012, Thrylos mentioned him by last name only one time.  That's it in the 5 year history of the site.

[ashbury]

That's it in the 5 year history of the site.

That's what we learn from Teh Googlez. You'd have to ask Brock to do a careful search of the database if you want a definitive answer on this important issue.

[twinsnorth49]

 

 

Here’s one: It’s 2006. I just had my first child that May, we’re living in a condo in downtown St. Paul, broke as jokes and my only form of entertainment was watching the Twins. (Oh yeah, and the joy I got from spending time with my then-infant daughter, you know, each one is a special, little unicorn, yada, yada, yada.) It’s early summer -- June or July at this point -- and my sister calls me up and says she’s got tickets to that afternoon’s game. Great, I think, some adult freedom. Being poor but still wanting to imbibe on an adult beverage at the game, I pour some (a lot of) rum into a diet coke bottle and hop a ride to the light rail station.

 

As I get out of the cab, I see my sister at the station and a train pulling up. I sprint, with the mixed beverage in my cargo shorts, to catch the packed train. The train is mobbed, it’s sunny, it’s hot, so I instinctively reach for the soda for a quick, cooling sip. Naturally, when I go to twist it a fraction of an inch, it blows: RUM AND COKE IS FIRING ALL OVER EVERYBODY IN A TEN FOOT RADIUS. It is one steady stream in a three-hundred and sixty degree circle. It felt like it sprayed forever before I jammed the bottle into my midsection to save the riders from the bath. Now I’m just a rum-soaked idiot who has to wait for an eternity while the train slooooooowly goes from Fort Snelling to the Metrodome.

 

When we get to the game, I have this large brown stain covering my shorts and my shirt but I don’t care because as a new parent -- FREEDOM! Then my sister tells me we are going to meet up on the concourse with one of her other friend’s. This particular friend went to high school with Joe Mauer and that friend is taking Joe Mauer’s then girlfriend, Miss North Carolina Chelsea Cooley, to the game. Ipso facto, we are going to go meet with a Miss USA contestant, something I was not emotionally nor physically prepared for. When we go over to meet them, my sister and her friend immediately run off to get beers or food or use the bathroom or whatever, leaving me to entertain Chelsea Cooley.

 

At that moment I became keenly aware of how big of a slob I look. Here’s Cooley, who looks every bit the Miss USA pageant contest (looking very out of place at the Metrodome, I might add), and me, who is covered in sweat and fermented sugar cane. I probably had baby vomit on my persons somewhere as well. So we stand there in the concrete concourse area, me trying to make small talk and her answering questions like she would on stage during a show. I remember doing an almost rapid-fire interrogation (because god forbid there be a moment of silence) and it crescendoed with me asking the most obvious Minnesota question of out-of-state visitors: SO, HAVE YOU BEEN TO THE MALL YET?

 

I don’t remember who won the game but I will always remember asking Chelsea Cooley if she had visited the Mall of America yet.

 

 

Damn, that is one of the funniest thing's I've read in a long time. 

 

Thanks!!

[WiesbadenDAN]

I am from Pequot Lakes and have been a twins fan since basically the start of the Dome. So my favorite memories are both world series, Game 162, Puck, Herbie, Bruno, Gaetti, Santana 1.0, Radke, M&M, Rookie Liriano, and Thome to name a few. Since I have spent most of my life away from Minnesota due to the USAF and various other jobs, it has bee a struggle "keeping up". "Keeping up" has involved watching games at all hours, devouring box scores, Seth Speaks, Gleeman, Bat girl, and now Twins daily...um daily. I do not post much but I read 99% of the content to include the comments. I am a power stalker I guess!

 

TD is so well run and there are so many great contributors to include commenters, that I can honestly say you all have made me smarter, but less productive. I currently Live in Germany and miss Minnesota a great deal and cannot wait to get back and attend my first game in Target field.

 

I am also a huge Kepler fan because of his German heritage and bought my German father-in-Law a Kepler Jersey even though he know nothing about Baseball. He absolutely loves it! So I am trying to grow the fan base internationally. When TD spawns its .de site he will be the first subscriber...lol.

 

So I thank you all and will now return to stalking and the rest of you keep up the awesomeness.

[BobAzar]

 

Love this!

 

I'm 32 years old, married with 3 boys living in Roseville, MN. 

 

Did you grow up in Roseville?

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

Seth Speaks, Gleeman, Bat girl, and now Twins daily...um daily.

 

Bat girl....  the TD owners need to figure out a way to get her to do the occasional guest article.  There's a name I haven't read in some time...