Rolling Stones

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The song that gave rock-and-roll's flagship publication its name and turned Bob Dylan into a whole new caliber of superstar was not, at first, part of a grand plan. Dylan was a popular musician just back from a tour in England, but he was tired and cranky. He started putting down lyrics as a means of processing those feelings—and then a funny thing happened.

"Last spring, I guess I was going to quit singing. I was very drained, and the way things were going, it was a very draggy situation," Dylan told Playboy in 1966. "But 'Like a Rolling Stone' changed it all. I mean it was something that I myself could dig. It's very tiring having other people tell you how much they dig you if you yourself don't dig you."

Ballplayers talk about that a lot. They can sometimes seem brash, and even ridiculous, but as they point out, the great game of failure demands deep reservoirs of confidence. It's also the great game of daily grinding, and thus, it demands deep reservoirs of energy. You can only find positive energy, sometimes, by digging yourself.

Before the 108th game of the 2026 Twins' season—the one that marks two-thirds of the campaign done and signals that it's time to shift out of marathon mode and into a sprint—GM Jeremy Zoll met with reporters in the work room at the back of the Target Field press box. He does this often, but he doesn't always do it like he did Tuesday. Zoll himself is never in dig-me mode, but it was time for the team to operate that way a bit.

Twins media relations were more proactive about finding reporters and gathering them in that room. There was a Twins.tv camera in the room, and a portable backdrop had been set up behind Zoll. This wasn't just another chance to give injury updates and answer questions. This was an announcement. The thrust of it: Minnesota has officially returned to relevance. This week, Zoll said, the Twins are buyers at the MLB trade deadline.

"If we go back to spring training, we spent a lot of time talking about [how] our goal was to play meaningful games in September," Zoll said. "We're really excited about how the team has played over this last stretch. We're really encouraged about that. In turn, we're going to use this next stretch, this next week, to do everything we can to find ways to improve the club and continue to execute on that goal and make it a reality."

As has been a theme all year, this was Zoll doing the same things behind the scenes that predecessor Derek Falvey would have done, but going about the job very differently in public. Falvey compulsively clutched his cards to his vest. He never minded leaving the media a little bit in doubt about the depth of his dedication to a direction or about the specifics of anything. In fact, he felt that it was essential. Information, to Falvey, is precious. He never wanted to surrender any of it, to let any of it filter out of his office and become a resource for the agents and other teams with whom he needed to negotiate.

Zoll, with the urging of Tom Pohlad, has taken the opposite tack. When in doubt, he communicates clearly about the team's plans. He did so by tamping down Byron Buxton trade rumors earlier this summer, and he did it in grand fashion Tuesday night. Pohlad and Zoll are trying to win over a fan base whose relationship to the team has grown chilly and distant over the last two years; they believe being direct and earnest is more important than staying guarded.

Again, though, Falvey would have come to the same conclusion Zoll has. Although the national media has kept the Twins in the in-between space (or even persisted in treating them as sellers), it's been clear for a week that the team would be in position to buy. They entered play Tuesday just three games back in the AL Central and 1.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. More importantly, as Zoll acknowledged, the team has shown immense resiliency. When they lost four in a row in Chicago and Cleveland just after the All-Star break, there was some remote chance that the team would be forced to sell because of another July collapse. They bounced right back to win four of five, though, responding just in time for the third or fourth time this year, and Zoll and company never had to seriously entertain selling.

"All along, we were optimistic we were going to be in this spot to be able to add," the GM said. "I know the playoff odds have ebbed and flowed along the way. But looking at the standings, it's felt really tight both between the Wild Card and the division this whole way. We remained confident there was going to be another bounce-back, given how resilient the group has been. This has been what we were focusing on and what our pro personnel group over the last couple of months has been focused on: the 'buy' version of things. It wasn't some situation where they were prepping [to] sell and we're switching. Now we're looking forward to [trying to] execute on that work."

Without question, the league has swung open to the team, like an aged gate. When Zoll gave his mission statement to the press, the team was still one game under .500, at 53-54. They're not a great baseball team. They're unequivocally in the mix, though, because of the weakness of the AL Central and the muddle that is the Wild Card race. Given where the team stands with its fans after last year's fire sale at the deadline and a botched ownership transition, the circumstances demanded that they capitalize on this chance. That's what they'll try to do.

In the game that followed, however, it looked for a while like the team would only realize some moral victories. Manager Derek Shelton is hardly ever seen in the clubhouse or his office, anymore, without a "Hunt the Good" t-shirt on, but it felt like one of those nights when that would require a skilled sportsman, indeed. Byron Buxton, who has remained hampered even since his return from the injured list last week, left the game in the fifth inning after experiencing more soreness in his right hip. When he departed, Minnesota led 1-0, but in the top of the sixth, the Royals stole one run, and the Twins gifted them another. With runners on the corners, Kansas City executed the double-steal perfectly. Lane Thomas took off for second. As soon as Ryan Jeffers threw through, lead runner Josh Rojas broke for the plate. Minnesota's defense wasn't crisp enough at either end to thwart the play. Then, with two outs, Salvador Perez hit a lofted wedge into right-center field. It was poorly struck, but when Buxton left the game, the Twins shifted Luke Keaschall from right field to center and installed Alan Roden in right. Keaschall was playing at his standard too-deep depth and had shaded Perez toward left-center, so he had no chance to reach the ball. Roden could have had a play with a good jump; he got a bad one.

In a blink, a sterling showing from Taj Bradley had turned sour, and the Twins offense kept snatching frustration from the jaws of opportunity at the plate. The pivotal moment, as it would later turn out, came in the bottom of the seventh—but it paid no immediate dividends. Shelton pinch-hit Royce Lewis for Trevor Larnach in the bottom of the seventh, with a runner on second and two outs. Larnach had been due to face left-handed Royals reliever Daniel Lynch IV, but Shelton's move prompted Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro to go to right-handed reliever John Schreiber.

Schreiber is a low-slot right-handed reliever; it was a tough matchup for Lewis. Shelton, however, had a plan.

"I forced them to make a move; I wanted to see what would happen," the skipper said after the game. What happened immediately was that, in an excellent six-pitch at-bat, Lewis drew a walk against Schreiber, revealing one benefit of choosing that matchup over the Larnach-Lynch one. Next up was Roden, who had come into Buxton's place in the batting order and got to face a righty instead of Lynch. Alas, his sharp opposite-field liner was snared by the Royals' Isaac Collins, quelching the rally.

That good plate appearance off the bench by Lewis was a positive takeaway, even as the team appeared to trend toward a loss. So was Bradley's 10-strikeout start. Roden's well-struck ball was an encouraging sign of his progress. The Twins bullpen added another moral victory, too. In successive innings, Kody Funderburk, Travis Adams and Jack Anderson held the Royals scoreless, so it was still 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. That's a good amount of 'good,' for those hunting it. One of the bittersweet liberties of being a contender again, though, is that you're free from moral victories. The night would have felt hollow and ominous—a good start wasted, a star reinjured, and worst, a game down in the standings—if nothing had changed, even to an optimist, and even after Zoll's proclamation of progress.

We'll never have to molder in that particular feeling; it burned off in a sudden zap of heat as intense as a summer lightning strike. Victor Caratini cracked a leadoff single. Luke Keaschall was robbed by Collins on a diving play down the left-field line, but Brooks Lee worked a smart hitter's walk to put the winning run on base. After Ryan Kreidler swung ferociously but came up empty, it was Lewis again—Lewis, in a do-or-die moment, after two-plus years of being the very embodiment of the Twins' ups and downs, and after starting the game on the bench. On a 1-1 count, he got an Alex Lange cutter up and away and hit it squarely.

"I've faced him before," Lewis said of Lange, afterward. "He hammered me with cutters. And so I was like, 'Yeah, I hope he throws that same pitch.'"

The ball arced high and had good backspin, soaring toward the deepest part of the park: right-center field. It hit partway up the high wall and caromed right past Thomas, the visitors' center fielder. Just like that, the game was over. With two outs, Lee had been able to run without hesitation from first base, so once it got past Thomas, the Royals had no hope of stopping the winning run from scoring.

As Lewis charged around second, sprinting toward and diving into third base, something interesting happened. The crowd (21,518, officially, as the community only slowly falls back in love with this team; there were fewer than that in the stands by the end, but they were straining to sound like more) roared and the players jumped and laughed and jubilated—and "Like a Rolling Stone" played over the Target Field sound system.

The Twins' victory song, for years now, has been "Don't Stop Me Now," by Queen. They played it, for instance, when Lewis had his first career walkoff hit, on June 25. "Like a Rolling Stone" is not usually played at moments like that one, and if you listen to the lyrics at all, it doesn't especially fit that mood, either. It's a sneering song. It's self-righteous and self-satisfied, and although it's not quite angry, it's not happy, either. The edge Dylan found—the way he stepped, in writing and then collaborating on the recording of that tune, from folk-bound bard to symbol of rock and its unapologetic bluntness—is a sharp and jagged one.

There's just enough bounce in the guitars and the Hammond organ that burble over Dylan's prose to give the sneer that upturn toward a smile at the corner, though, so the song landed just fine on the raucous celebrants of this now-.500 team. They hit a huge milestone Tuesday in their climb out of the very pit into which Dylan observes his subject plunging throughout the song. All of life is reference points. When you hear "Like a Rolling Stone" at a moment of triumph, it's all that jangling organ and none of the haunting metaphors, and when Dylan lets his voice swell into the chorus's "How does it feel?", it hits like the DJ screaming over a dubstep beat.

How does this feel? Incredible! The Twins have survived. They're 38-31 in their last 69 games. The White Sox and Guardians are floundering; the team is now just 2 games behind Chicago for the AL Central lead and a half-game out of a playoff spot. In this contest, they survived grounding into five double plays and their best player leaving due to injury. They won without using any of their true high-leverage relievers. Lewis, who was in St. Paul two months ago, cast down very much like the antagonist Dylan's protagonist taunts throughout "Like a Rolling Stone," put together two excellent at-bats and got another chance to dig himself. Like Dylan, he feeds off those moments, when he can fall in love with his own brilliance.

"I think my walkoff hit, personally, shows the intent to never give up," Lewis said after the game. "I mean, my story just keeps living on. It's so impressive. I'm proud of myself in that, just because—whether it's two ACL injuries, or other soft-tissue injuries, I just keep pushing and keep coming back."

It's hard not to laugh at that genuine, unabashed self-regard. It can sound ridiculous, at times, and when Lewis said many similar-sounding things during the lowest of his lows, it felt like a lethal cocktail of delusion and solipsism. On a night like Tuesday, though, you can see it in a more forgiving light, as the shield that protects a player (and a team) from the grind and the failure of the season. Dylan, to be sure, has built his own legend and legacy on an unrepentant self-regard. The song that taught him to dig himself fueled him to keep going, and it played over the latest symbol of the Twins' own ability to keep going.

"I think the thing about this group ... is just the resiliency," Shelton said. "They continue. They don't let that stuff affect them."

Tuesday might be remembered a long time in Twins Territory, as a pivotal one in the history of the franchise. Under a new owner (albeit with an old name), the team vowed to do its best to build on the success they've had this year, and then they went out and sustained that success, in improbable fashion. On a night all about reaching out to Minnesota itself and trying to forge a new and robust connection, at their moment of unexpected triumph, they played—perhaps accidentally, or perhaps unthinkingly—a song that not only emphasizes that connection by emanating from Minnesota itself, but captures some of the feelings they and their fan base have had to survive over the past two-plus years. 

The notion of a rolling stone—the one that gathers no moss, as the saying from which Dylan borrowed his chorus and title goes—is that lacking a firm place to rest leaves one without the stability to foster growth. This Twins team is, in a sense, made up of those rolling stones. Buxton has moss all over him, but he's not going to be able to carry them to playoffs himself. That's been clear since he first tweaked his hip. He has a .514 OPS in July, and it's only .611 even if you go back to the midpoint of June. The team will have to depend, instead, on the likes of Josh Bell, Caratini, Kody Clemens, Bradley, and more—journeymen who have landed here but won't stay especially long. In the medium-term future, the organization will get back to relying heavily on a homegrown core, but the homegrown and long-tenured members of the current squad are mostly struggling or injured. Instead, it's Shelton—a rolling stone in his own right—leading a group that has forced the front office into this buying posture at the deadline.

Neither Shelton's nor Zoll's work is by any means done; it never is. Sisyphus's rolling stone is just as good a metaphor for this team's plight as Dylan's is. For one night, though, the Twins got to the top of the hill in style, and a moment to take stock of what's already been accomplished isn't unearned or inappropriate. How does it feel? It feels like October, even though it's scorching-hot and the calendar still says July. It feels like this team of complete unknowns has a direction again—and like it's starting to reestablish its connection to its home.

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[Coach]

The Times They Are a-Changin'

[Saxophone Joe]

This hardcore Dylan fan approves of this message. Great piece! Let’s roll 👊🏼

[terrydactyls]

Let's see what happens today and tomorrow.

[TL]

Great article 

[Bangkok Twins Fan]

18 minutes ago, Saxophone Joe said:

This hardcore Dylan fan approves of this message. Great piece! Let’s roll 👊🏼

Don't think twice, it's alright!

[arby58]

A nice summary of yesterday’s happenings - but I wouldn’t put Bradley in the ‘journeymen’ classification with Bell, Caratini, and Clemens. When you’re a 25 year old starting pitcher who regularly hits 100 mph, you’re not going anywhere.

[MMBoys93]

Bob Dylan was lined up to play in my city last night and I almost bought last minute tickets.

I didn’t and the concert was canceled due to tornado warnings. 
 

Moral of the story- no clue 

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, TL said:

Great article 

It may mean little to nothing in the overall scheme but tis probably the most unforgettable moment for the fans at Target so far this season.

[Patzky]

7 minutes ago, MMBoys93 said:

Bob Dylan was lined up to play in my city last night and I almost bought last minute tickets.

I didn’t and the concert was canceled due to tornado warnings. 
 

Moral of the story- no clue 

Rainy day #64

[Patzky]

47 minutes ago, arby58 said:

A nice summary of yesterday’s happenings - but I wouldn’t put Bradley in the ‘journeymen’ classification with Bell, Ceretini, and Clemens. When you’re a 25 year old starting pitcher who regularly hits 100 mph, you’re not going anywhere.

Pretty sure Caratini and Clemens aren't going anywhere either, at least for awhile 

[Hrbeks Divot]

Great read! Let’s enjoy the ride!

[Patzky]

1 hour ago, Coach said:

The Times They Are a-Changin'

Gotta serve somebody 😛 

[IndianaTwin]

48 minutes ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Don't think twice, it's alright!

How many times can we turn our heads and pretend that we don't see how well the team is doing? 

How many times can we look up before we see first place? 

How many deaths can we have as Twins fans before we know that too many seasons have died?  

 

[LA Vikes Fan]

Great metaphor. This team may not be that good, but they are fun to follow. 

[USAFChief]

Ah, baseball... keeps us all Forever Young.

[langerr]

  As a longtime Twins fan, and a "semi decent" musician, I absolutely love Bob Dylan and his lyrics. 
  A truly great piece of writing to draw such strong parallels, on many,  many levels, between a fantastic song and the latest stupendous game performance by the ever resilient Twins!

  I'm looking forward to seeing which "moves" they actually make ....go Twins!

 

[The123bigalguy]

Good use of Bob's song to make your point. Can the team get above .500 now and stay there? Anybody's guess. It's perfect tonight, they're going against Dobnak, that feel good story for the Twins now a part of Kansas City lore. Randy is digging himself, that's for certain. It's not The Odyssey, no indeed, but it's a chance tonight for Joe to redeem himself after giving up six homers (count them!) in one (count it) game. 

[arby58]

7 minutes ago, The123bigalguy said:

Good use of Bob's song to make your point. Can the team get above .500 now and stay there? Anybody's guess. It's perfect tonight, they're going against Dobnak, that feel good story for the Twins now a part of Kansas City lore. Randy is digging himself, that's for certain. It's not The Odyssey, no indeed, but it's a chance tonight for Joe to redeem himself after giving up six homers (count them!) in one (count it) game. 

Dobnak has had a nice career rejuvenation with KC. It’s hard to believe, but this game scares me a bit. Hope there isn’t an emotional high for Randy and a let-down after last night for the Twins.

[mikelink45]

A good win encourages a good write up.  Fun ending.  Now we speculate on what Zoll will do. 

[Greglw3]

Matthew! That was a brilliant piece of writing that captured the essence of the pure euphoria of that moment, when the game was won, switching this Twins fan’s emotions from near despondency to pure joy!!! And I suspect the same extreme emotional swing for a huge chunk of "die hard" and long-time Twins fans.

Watching Lewis and Keaschall and that smaller group celebrate just past 3rd base captured the pure grandeur of the moment!

As a big time Twins fan since a little boy in 1964 at Tinker field in Orlando after a spring training Twins pounding of (ironically my birth state) Reds, it was one of the purely sweetest moments of these 6 decades!

I love what has transpired since Shelton, Zoll, Sizemore, Hawkins and yes, Tom Pohlad have taken over. The icing on the cake is Jenkins and Culpepper there for the adding in St. Paul.

Again, great writing! It reminded me of the writing of Roger Angell, in his all time classic baseball book, Five Seasons. The book that forever ingrained the meaning and love of the word 'penultimate' in my consciousness!

[The Great Hambino]

1 hour ago, MMBoys93 said:

Moral of the story- no clue 

 You could even say it's A Complete Unknown

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Beautifully written piece about a great baseball game. It deserves a FIFA "Piece" Prize.

[Matthew Trueblood]

3 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Beautifully written piece about a great baseball game. It deserves a FIFA "Piece" Prize.

If Infantino would get off his ass and back to work creating a FIFA Post Prize, this one should win that. 

[Saxophone Joe]

48 minutes ago, Greglw3 said:

Watching Lewis and Keaschall and that smaller group celebrate just past 3rd base captured the pure grandeur of the moment!

As a big time Twins fan since a little boy in 1964 at Tinker field in Orlando after a spring training Twins pounding of (ironically my birth state) Reds, it was one of the purely sweetest moments of these 6 decades!

Indeed. Pure joy. Provus nailed the call, too. "TWINS WIN! TWINS WIN!" 

Big difference from the player's-only booth call on Roden's walk-off from a couple weeks ago. 

[Matthew Trueblood]

18 minutes ago, Saxophone Joe said:

Indeed. Pure joy. Provus nailed the call, too. "TWINS WIN! TWINS WIN!" 

Big difference from the player's-only booth call on Roden's walk-off from a couple weeks. 

I was glad people enjoyed that booth. But yeah, man, it turns out professional PBP people add value! I wish they'd do a bit less stunt stuff, because when moments like that one come, you want to have a person like Cory at the mic.

[Saxophone Joe]

28 minutes ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

I was glad people enjoyed that booth. But yeah, man, it turns out professional PBP people add value! I wish they'd do a bit less stunt stuff, because when moments like that one come, you want to have a person like Cory at the mic.

100%. 

I went back and watched the replay like 20 times. "THAT BALL'S OFF THE WALL...THE TWINS ARE GONNA WIN THE GAME! CARATINI SCORES! LEE SCORES! THE TWINS RALLY AND WALK OFF THE ROYALS!"

That's the good stuff. Inject this into my veins! 

Cory's been been waiting for over a year to make a call like that. He didn't get to call the Keaschall walk-off last August against the Royals (was on Roku, and Ryan Lefebrve was  ripped for showing no emotion whatsoever), and the Rockies walk-off was one more of relief than joy. 

[tony&rodney]

Fun article, fun times.

[Greglw3]

28 minutes ago, Saxophone Joe said:

100%. 

I went back and watched the replay like 20 times. "THAT BALL'S OFF THE WALL...THE TWINS ARE GONNA WIN THE GAME! CARATINI SCORES! LEE SCORES! THE TWINS RALLY AND WALK OFF THE ROYALS!"

That's the good stuff. Inject this into my veins! 

Cory's been been waiting for over a year to make a call like that. He didn't get to call the Keaschall walk-off last August against the Royals (was on Roku, and Ryan Lefebrve was  ripped for showing no emotion whatsoever), and the Rockies walk-off was one more of relief than joy. 

That's when Corey is at his best, during those OMG Yes!, Surge-in-emotion-moments!

[chinmusic]

46 minutes ago, Saxophone Joe said:

I went back and watched the replay like 20 times. "THAT BALL'S OFF THE WALL...THE TWINS ARE GONNA WIN THE GAME! CARATINI SCORES! LEE SCORES! THE TWINS RALLY AND WALK OFF THE ROYALS!"

Yup. Great call by Provus. Not contrived. Totally genuine. What a moment!