Summer In The Air: Winter Meltdown Recap

Before the official start time of 4:30 PM, dozens had already streamed into the basement of Brother's Bar and Grill, which proved to be a fittingly spacious and gracious venue for a crowd that ultimately came close to 300.

That so many people would make the trip – some from just a few blocks away at Target Field, others from much further – for this baseball geek-out festival in the wake of 103 losses and a conspicuously quiet offseason is a true testament to the resilient loyalty and hopefulness of Twins fans.

Of course, there was beer. So that helps.

Tasty taps from 612 Brew were flowing as hardball enthusiasts revved up their engines over chatter, photo sessions and raffle prizes provided by AME Sports.

On the main stage, emcee and local comic David Sitrick led the crowd through a series of Q&As and panels.

First, Parker Hageman and I took the stage along with Twins Director of Baseball Research Jack Goin for a discussion of the growing use of analytics within his organization and baseball at large. Among the topics broached were changes under the new regime, appealing aspects of newly acquired catcher Jason Castro, and Jack's advice for aspiring statheads looking to break into the industry.

Next, John Bonnes and Seth Stohs stepped in for an interview with former Twins reliever, and new front office assistant, LaTroy Hawkins. In candid fashion, Hawk recalled memories from his lengthy major-league career. He had some choice words for one particular umpire, as well as an ex-teammate (whom he only disliked as an opponent... I'm sure you can guess who it is).

Finally, the Twins Daily crew was joined on-stage by Aaron Gleeman to answer audience-submitted questions, which ranged from the 2017 outlook to the appropriate number of cats for a household.

Good news: if you missed out, you can listen to the entire show on this week's edition of the Gleeman and the Geek podcast.

The event was casual and easygoing. Hawkins and Goin were good sports, participating in lighthearted game show style segments after their talks, and both hung around to rub shoulders afterwards. Jack and I went deep on a discussion of the all-time greatest hip-hop artists (he's got love for the oldies). Beat writers like Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press, Phil Miller and La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, Derek Wetmore of 1500ESPN, and Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com were on hand, and they were all happy to talk Twins with anyone in attendance. Attendees who stayed at the bar until the end of the event and beyond might have spotted and said hello to prospects Stephen Gonsalves and Mitch Garver.

When we first concocted this event several years ago, our vision was ambitious, but I don't think we ever could have imagined something of this magnitude. At least I didn't. Each Winter Meltdown has been better than the last, and it's beginning to truly feel like the kick-off celebration Minnesota baseball fans deserve. For that, all credit goes to the people that made WM4 happen: Brothers, 612 Brew, AME Sports, the Twins, and especially all of you who came out.

Our only regret is that we couldn't host more of you. Tickets sold out fast, and once they were gone it was a bummer having to turn away people who wanted to join. Fortunately, we've got plenty more fun events in the works, and you better believe we'll be raising our sights next year when the Meltdown turns 5.

We'll sign off with some of our favorite tweets using the #TDMeltdown hashtag. Again, thank you to everyone who helped make this a special evening. Seriously.

https://twitter.com/TCAnelle/status/825492858673197056

https://twitter.com/BryzTwinkieTown/status/825496369104318465

https://twitter.com/kbrobaseball/status/825503527841755141

https://twitter.com/W7thSnake/status/825520141857218561

https://twitter.com/graigkos/status/825501985080279043

https://twitter.com/heibrid_/status/825501178880524289

https://twitter.com/TravKnops/status/825488376182751233

https://twitter.com/katesacliche/status/825485896170483714

https://twitter.com/sheradoodles/status/825489915714625536

https://twitter.com/tlschwerz/status/825485958770458626

https://twitter.com/SethTweets/status/825754991319212032