20 Years Later: Reflecting on Two Decades of Baseball Blogging

In March of 2005, I was nearing the end of my freshman year of college at the University of Minnesota. Months earlier, during the first semester, I'd met a classmate in Intro to Philosophy — also named Nick — and we bonded over our fanship of the Twins. At the time they were fresh off a third consecutive AL Central title, and facing off against the dreaded New York Yankees in the playoffs.

The 2004 ALDS was an epic series. A maddening series. A gut-wrenching series that (little to my knowledge) would spark a historic postseason losing streak for the franchise. It might've been the series that forever cemented my passion for baseball.

I distinctly remember obsessing over the minutiae of Game 2, an extra-inning thriller that has since become a pivot point in Twins history. Why not pinch-hit Lew Ford at some point for overwhelmed rookie Jason Kubel? Why send a clearly gassed Joe Nathan out for a third inning rather than turning to Jesse Crain? WHY GARDY WHY?

Discussing and debating these topics with my new friend Nick in philosophy class, while paying little attention to the lecture, laid groundwork for our creation of a blog the following spring: Nick & Nick's Twins Blog. We decided we'd try to publish every day, while alternating writing duties to keep the workload reasonable. 

On March 3rd, 2005, I published my first-ever Twins blog, entitled "First Game of Spring," which you can find below in its brief entirety (typos and all):

I must say I was very excited at 6 o'clock this evening when I turned on the 'CCO on my radio and heard the voice of John Gordon pronouncing "Twins baseball on the air". The game itself, a 4-3 loss against the Red Sox, was not particularly interesting outside of being the first Twins game of 2005. Not a single projected starter played in the game (except for probable DH Lew Ford). The Twins fielded Matthew LeCroy, Luis Rodriguez, Eric Munson, and Bartlett in the infield; with Mike Ryan, Armando Ríos and Ford in the outfield and Mike Redmond at catcher. A few speculations below...

*Bartlett, a contender for the starting job at shortstop this season, batted lead-off and start the game with a base hit. He ended up scoring on a wild pitch.

*Kyle Lohse started the game, and pitched two innings, allowing a run. JD Durbin pitched the next two. He looked good in his first inning of work, but ran into some trouble in his second, walking a couple guys and loading up the bases with no outs, then allowing a run to score on a base hit. He ended up working out of the jam though.

*The mid-inning subs included 2B Brent Abernathy, 3B Andy Fox, and CF Jason Tyner. All are offseason pickups, none of whom are expected to make the Major League club, but I recognized them because they have all started for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays within the past few years. Guess that says something for the D-Rays.

The Twins play again tomorrow against Toronto, and the game actually should feature some starters.

Reading this back now, I'm hit with a wave of nostalgia: another era of Twins baseball, another chapter of my life. I can just hear John Gordon's voice piping through the radio in my dorm at Comstock Hall. Ah, the good old days.

Something that really strikes me, though, is the light substance. This wasn't analysis or commentary so much as a recitation of some things that happened. (What does it actually "say for the D-Rays," Nick?) But back then it was difficult to find any detailed coverage of spring training action outside of the occasional back-page blurb in the local newspapers. The lack of in-depth content available for obsessive fans is what motivated John Bonnes, Seth Stohs and Aaron Gleeman in the preceding years to start their own blogs, all of which played a big role in inspiring ours. 

The post above might seem quaint and insight-bare, but trust me when I say there wasn't much like it for fans in 2005. Online content was in a nascent state and social media barely existed. Mainstream publications tended to cover the bare bones, at surface level.

Fast-forward 20 years and the landscape has changed dramatically. The quality and depth of Twins coverage available through mainstream media, independent media, blogs, videos, podcasts and beyond is staggering by comparison. I'm proud that Twins Daily — which I helped found in 2012, seven years after my blogging journey began — played some role in this evolution. The community of writers, creators, commenters and readers we have here is something I would never have dreamt of when I first started back in 2005.

The other thing I'm struck by, in retrospect: How my experience following those successful, colorful, interesting, entertaining mid-aughts teams turned me into an invested lifelong fan who still — two decades later — writes about the team multiple times per week, and talks about it on social media all the time. 

Would I be doing this now if the product during these formative years was boring and uncompetitive? Would the Twins have been able to pry my attention away from Randy Moss and the Vikings, or Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves, if not for the allure of summer nights spent watching Joe Mauer, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau and Johan Santana star for consistent contenders? I honestly don't know.

That really underscores the opportunity faced by the Minnesota Twins franchise right now, with a potential ownership transition at hand. Fielding competitive, compelling teams and making postseason runs doesn't just pay dividends in terms of short-term interest and attendance. For people who are at the crux of commitment, like I was back at age 18, it can be the difference between a permanent connection to the team or a sporadic, passing fancy.

This current Twins team has all the ingredients in place to inspire deep, lifelong investment from a new generation of potential fans by capturing their imaginations and igniting their passion. The core is in place with star-caliber players like Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis, not to mention some tremendous talent rising in the minor leagues. It's crucial for these players to rise to the occasion, and for ownership and the front office to support them in meaningful ways. 

Will some other impressionable kid who's currently reaching adulthood find himself blogging or creating content 20 years from now? The way things play out on the field in these next couple seasons could well dictate the answer.