Article: What Kind of Fan are You?

[kirbyelway]

I was a diehard Twins fan in 1987, 91 and last year. I love it when they win and I hate it when they lose. I think the best way to describe it is a 162 game mood swing.

[MileHighTwinsFan]

At least I can see the method to the madness now, whereas under Bill Smith there seemed to be more of a knee-jerk, aggressiveness to his decisions that were focused on winning now and not so focused on the future. I think everyone would agree that we were pleased on some level with his efforts - trading for Rauch and Fuentes to strengthen the bullpen as well as getting Capps to close as a final piece of the puzzle. However, I think the Twins formula, as represented by Terry Ryan, has been largely successful. As a result, I am willing to give him time to see what happens.

[striker_86]

Good post, Seth. I'm about a 7.5 on the fan scale. Certain moves (like the Capps for Ramos example) confuse or annoy me right off the bat, but I know enough to know that, despite what we all complain about concerning Bill Smith and Terry Ryan, the people working in MLB front offices generally have good baseball minds. And I also know that it's an exercise in futility to complain about that trade 150 times on the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press amd TwinsDaily sites.

 

And there's only so much negativity I can take. If the Twins stink this year, I'm sure I'll write about that on my blog to an extent, but I'll also focus more attention on the Rock Cats and the other teams that might post winning seasons.

Im probably in the same boat. I always let things play out and try to look at the positive side of a trade or free agent signing no matter how much of a head scratcher it can be. Id rather be the guy who says we are going to make the playoffs, and then we end up making them. Rather than the guy who says we are going to miss the playoffs and we end of missing them. They probably wont make the playoffs this year, but its a lot more fun to hope they will make a run!

[twinkiesfan11]

Thanks for the post Seth!

 

I consider myself to be about a 7 or 8 fan this year, down from a 9+ prior to last year. I guess my wavering fanhood stems from my concern that maybe the Twins front office has failed to notice their cheese may have moved. The way they collapsed last year really got me wondering if "the Twins way" really works anymore. It's just been so long since they've put a team on the field that lives up to those standards. I really hope they prove me wrong and I do genuinely believe that they're capable of doing so. I don't expect much out of the big league team this summer, they've been pretty hard to watch so far, but I'll keep watching and hoping. I'll stay glued to the minor league box scores everyday. I'll attend as many games in person as I can - especially now that I can get Surly beer! No matter how frustrated I get I will always support this team.

[sln477]

I am a 10+++, but not based on the scale description of Seth. My love of baseball, with the Twins being #1, knows no bounds when it comes to my soul. I am like most fans when it comes to opinions about the state of "our" team. I become disappointed, disillusioned, & sad with disappointing results; I become giddy, euphoric, & feel blessed with positive results. The bottom line with me is the fact that any day baseball is played is a joyous one, not just for the Twins, but all of baseball in general. How can we not marvel at a no hitter, home runs, the perfectly executed bunts & double plays, & the myriad of strategy & nuances of the game. Baseball is bliss & as fans of the Twins/game, we should count our blessings of the wonderful world that is baseball. GO TWINS!!!

[PopRiveter]

I don't feel entitled to manage a team. I don't feel entitled to get the players I want. That restrains me from a lot of negativity. As a fan, I recognize I am an observer. I can be disappointed in my team, but I gotta love 'em. If they "jump the shark" (ala vikings acquiring Favre) I'll stop being a fan. So far, the worst things they've done are pretty bearable. I can cheer for just about any Twins player of the last 20 years. I can also rip on them, but my harshest tone is good-natured. I guess that makes me a ten. My intensity, however, isn't a ten. When they are playing poorly, I'll take my kids to the park or go fishing. I'll give them my attention again soon enough.

[SteadyDietOfCheese]

Honestly, I can go between 1 and 10 in a single day, maybe even during a single game. Maybe even during one at bat. I guess "mercurial" would be the best word. I prefer highly emotional.

 

When I watch any game, the Twins are simultaneously the greatest team to ever play baseball and lousy bums. My objectivity is shot.

 

For me, their can be no greater testament of love than this chaotic insanity. Go Twins!

My long lost brother ...

[bdhenders]

I am the biggest twins fan there is but I also have a firm grasp on REALITY. I never expected this team to be better than bottom 3 in the whole MLB this year but that doesnt make me any less of a fan.

 

I wish more of the media had a better sense of reality instead of cheerleading and giving uneducated fans false hope.

I'll take that bet! The Twins will be much better than bottom 3...no lower than 8th from last;-) They were only 2nd worst last year and that horrible mix of injuries and the parade of minor league players playing significant roles that followed is highly unlikely to happen again. I do agree that the media tends to paint the team in a positive light, but the beginning of the year is the time for that optimism. Let us be hopeful until the true reality sets in, wether that be good or bad. At least we can feel good for a while, even if it turns out the team does poorly. We will have enough time to complain about that later on.

 

On the scale, I'm an 8 and trending higher. I agree with a most of the moves they make and I am starting to realize more and more that they have more information than we do about the makeup and work ethic of their players, so we have to give them the benefit of the doubt. A prime example is them not re-signing Liriano to a long-term contract and then him showing up without having done any offseason conditioning last year. This lead to shoulder stiffness and a horrible year. If players show a lack of work ethic, then it makes sense to cut ties with them (or force them to go to winter ball...which has been my argument about Frankie all along!...know your personnel guys). I think he'll have a good year this year because he was forced to do some work. There's probably a lot more of that personality evaluation going on with the players than we will ever know, so I tend to give the front office the benefit of the doubt.

[Jack Torse]

I'm about a 6 but that's probably because I'm flabbergasted how they have absolutely ignored the bullpen for 2 consecutive off seasons. They refuse to spend money on MLB verteran relievers with decent track records. I'm not talking overspending on Papelbon or Benoit, just an MLB contract at the going rate for a decent MLB reliever. The guy from Philly who never pitched an inning is the only guy I can even rememeber them bringing in as a free agent gaurenteed contract. It was nice to see Perkins get signed and for all the world it looks very smart but that's a pile of money for a guy who has put together only 4 solid months in the majors.

[whydidnt]

I have to say this is a very relevant question. It gets more and more frustrating to participate in some of the threads on this site as they seem to be increasingly populated by people who have no desire other than to; A) rip the Twins no matter what, or cheer-lead for the Twins and their decisions no matter what. I get that many are frustrated by recent results, I am too, but the Twins have brought a lot of fun and enjoyment to most of us, they must do something right. If everything is so awful, why do you want to waste your time on discussing it? On the other hand, if you think that every decision ever made by the Twins was correct and they are above criticism, then why waste your breath entering a discussion about them, just go enjoy the games, what's there for you to discuss? Seriously, when did we, as society, grow into such a bunch of no-thinking dunderheads that have predetermined that every issue must be black or white, with no consideration of gray? Is this something being taught in schools today?

 

Admittedly, I probably tend to fall towards the negative side, though I don't consider my self pessimistic, and few people look forward to opening day more than I do. I consider my self a skeptic, though and believe it's worthwhile to ask questions that might not always have an answer.

[Doc Freiermuth]

Seth you have touched on something I have been ruminating about this season given the less than auspicious showing of our lads. What kind of a fan am I or am I even a fan? As disgusted as I have been with the the moves the team has made, the "money ball" analysis I read and the state of the "business of baseball" I question what it is that brings me back each year. Then I started to think, it's not so much that I am a fan or a patron or a follower of the Twins, it's that the team and baseball is just part of my soul. I think back to how the Twins have been a part of my life.

 

From my earliest memories of sitting in the boat fishing with my grandpa listening to Halsey Hall and Herb Carneal on the transistor radio to my first summer college job on the night shift listening to Lymon Bostock beating the Angels in the 9th to being at the store buying a video camera to film the arrival of our adopted daughter and stopping to watch the celebration in Texas when they won the division (and later bringing that 6 month old baby girl to a cold St. Paul street to watch the World Series Victory parade to teaching my daughter and son to emulate Bob Casey's call Kirrrrrrrrbyyyyyyy Puuuuuuckeeeetttttt to hearing some of the last words of my dad in the hospital through his oxygen mask say "Morneau's up" I have concluded the Twins are just a part of me.

 

I don't know if I can rate myself a 1 or a 10, and I don't know if it matters. All I can say is that even after yesterday's home opener debacle, it just came to me to say to my son "Hey Mike, you want to go to a ball game on your birthday Friday, just you and me?" And you know what? He said "sure Dad". In thinking about this topic, the scene from Field of Dreams keeps popping into my head, that maybe it has nothing to do with being a 1 or a 10 "fan" it's that baseball and our Twins are just a part of you...

 

"Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

[lilbiscuit]

Yeah. Well, it's one thing to lose 4 games. It's quite another thing to be totally outplayed and outclassed.

[JB_Iowa]

I'd put myself at about a 5. I've become tremendously cynical about the front office the last few years. And it wasn't all Bill Smith. The Twins' moves make more sense to me when I remind myself that the Club President is someone from a marketing background.

 

I told myself this winter that I would try to stay away from the expectations game and just enjoy the games as they are played. But I find myself watching a lot more baseball on channels other than FSN. (And I've been a Twins fan since the 1965 season. I've endured the ups and the downs but I have a very hard time getting past the "good old boys club" stagnancy of this team's management.)

 

I'd guess most of the people posting here are 9s or 10s (or higher) on the pure fanaticism scale. My guess is that the interest is waning a lot more quickly among casual fans.

[one_eyed_jack]

I guess I'd put myself at a 6 or 7 on that scale. The Twins are my team, but I'm a baseball fan first and a Twins fan second.

 

There seem to be a lot more people on the extreme ends than in the middle. It's either blind cheerleading or knee-jerk negatvisim about absolutely everything. I tend to be a little more rational about it.

 

But I'll tell you this - I'd much rather watch a game with a bunch of 10's than a bunch of 1's.

 

It's baseball, people, it's supposed to be fun. You can get into it, and even be passionate about it, but at the end of the day, it's a harmless diversion. The experience of a baseball game isn't all about whether your team wins. Sometimes the home team wins, sometimes they don't. Sometimes you get a close, flawlessly played game that's decided in extra innings, sometimes it's a laugher that's over by the third inning. Sometimes you get an eventful game filled with suicide squeezes, double steals, 7-man infields, grand slams and crashing-into-the-wall catches. Sometimes it's an unremarkable bunch of routine plays.

 

But it's more than that. It's the pleasure of sitting outside enjoying the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of a major league game on a perfect summer evening. It's the look of unbridled elation on the face of a kid who just had a foul ball bounce into his hands. It's the sweetness of seeing a couple of octogenarians decked out in Twins gear holding up a "Circle Me Bert" sign that announces they're celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

 

And I would much rather experience all that surrounded by a bunch of people shouting "Go Twins" even though all realistic possibility of victory evaporated 3 innings ago than by a nattering nabob of negative ninnies moaning, groaning and muttering "I told you so" after every little Twins misstep. (Seriously, if you're one of those people, do the rest of us a favor and stay home.)

[Neil]

Honestly, I can go between 1 and 10 in a single day, maybe even during a single game. Maybe even during one at bat. I guess "mercurial" would be the best word. I prefer highly emotional.

 

When I watch any game, the Twins are simultaneously the greatest team to ever play baseball and lousy bums. My objectivity is shot.

 

For me, their can be no greater testament of love than this chaotic insanity. Go Twins!

Well said, Mr Horrorpants, very well said indeed. I spend much of the season writhing on the couch, making my girlfriend uncomfortable and scaring the cats. True fanship, for me anyway, is a never ending emotional maelstrom.

[Guest USAFChief]

Each team has fans that are willing to be patient, think logically and give the benefit of the doubt to players and front office personnel whose jobs are much tougher than it looks on TV

 

I disagree with the premise that only those who always give the benefit of the doubt to players and front office personnel can be described as willing to be patient and able to "think logically."

[dave_dw]

I'm a 3, but not because I'm a pessimist or irrationally angry at losses & poor performance, I simply think some of the Twins philosophies are outdated. If I were a Tampa Bay Rays fan, I'd be a 7 or 8 because I think they have a smarter front office and manager.

[SoDakTwinsFan5]

I would say it depends. Probably about a 5 most of the time. I think like many fans if I like the decision I don't get angry but if I don't like it or they don't make many decisions I get angry. Although I will admit this year I am probably a 2 because of how horrendus last season was and the fact I am a huge Cuddyer, Kubel and Nathan fan they were the only 3 people on this team I didn't want to see leave and yet we let them go.

[SoDakTwinsFan5]

I'm a 3, but not because I'm a pessimist or irrationally angry at losses & poor performance, I simply think some of the Twins philosophies are outdated. If I were a Tampa Bay Rays fan, I'd be a 7 or 8 because I think they have a smarter front office and manager.

I completely agree dave_dw, I think there philosophies are severely outdated. I don't think the Moneyball type of game the Athletics and Twins play works. I don't think the Rays play Moneyball, if you want to make a new name to there philosophy they play "Draftball" where if someone leaves through free agency they have another person right there to replace him. To some extent the Twins had that but when most people leave we were left waiting for a couple years or more to get a replacement.

[BD57]

Probably a 7 for Gardy, a solid "5" for the front office (I have more faith in Ryan than Smith ... but ...) and a solid 2.5 for the medical staff.

 

There are things that drive me nuts - mostly, that the organization is so enamored with "pitch to contact" that it seems they think missing bats is a bad thing. And the medical staff needs to get straightened out .... seems like every time there's an injury, we find out a few weeks later that it's far worse than anyone imagined.