Where Were the Twins Daily Writers for the Last Twins Playoff Win (Before Yesterday)?

On Tuesday, the Twins topped the Blue Jays 3-1 in Game 1 of the Wild Card round of the playoffs.

In case you hadn’t heard, the Minnesota Twins were on an 0-18 streak in postseason games. We must travel back to 2004 to remember what that a postseason win was like. It's a win that we, as fans, hope can be replicated many times this October.

Since their previous playoff win was so long ago, it could be fun, maybe slightly painful, to look back to see where many of the Twins Daily writers were in life for that last playoff win. 

Theodore Tollefson
“I was in my second month of Kindergarten. The only Twin I knew of at the time was Torii Hunter. I was more worried about figuring out which Star Wars character I’d be for Halloween than baseball. I ended up being Darth Vader.” 

Steve Trefz
“I was 24. Newly married and living in a studio apartment at school in Chicago. My final year of seminary just started. It was a Tuesday with a 7:21 p.m. first pitch. I watched from the comfort of my couch. I had no idea it would be the last.” 

Seth Stohs
“I was 29. I had just bought my first (and only) house a couple of months earlier. I’m sure I thought of it as the first of many because even though Mauer didn’t play (Oh Henry(!) Blanco), they had so many young players (Morneau, Cuddyer, Santana, etc.). I was sure they would become a juggernaut, similar to what the Atlanta Braves had become.  I had been blogging for like 15 months, so I’m sure someone could probably find what I wrote…but probably not.” 

If someone can find what Seth wrote, I think we would all enjoy seeing that. Don’t scroll through the WordPress version of Seth Speaks. It won’t get you far enough back. I also don’t care to share how I obtained this knowledge either!  (Editor Note - But I do, so I linked to that old site and you can enjoy my thoughts, ramblings, rankings and more from the olden days. -Seth) 

Cody Schoenmann
“I was four years old. I am now 23. I got my tonsils taken out when I was four, but the last playoff win may have happened before or after. I don’t remember. I didn’t know baseball existed, and my parents weren’t big baseball people. So, I was still multiple years away from being introduced to baseball and the Twins. I would love to experience a Twins playoff win and have a recollection of it as well.” 

Cody Christie
“I was in my sophomore year of college. My RA rented out a projector, and my whole wing sat out in the common area and watched the game projected on the wall. I remember hanging on every moment, especially some of the tremendous defensive plays made by the Twins to preserve the shutout. We erupted when Jacque Jones hit the home run. For one night, it seemed like the Twins were going to be able to slay the mighty Yankees.” 

Matthew Lenz simply remembers Phil Cuzzi blowing the foul ball call. 

Melissa Berman
“I was in 4th grade, and I remember my teacher rolled in a TV on a cart so we could watch the game during class! I was lucky to have teachers who were big Twins fans growing up who would always show the games in class–if my parents didn’t bring me down to the Metrodome to see in person!” 

John Bonnes
“I had started TwinsGeek.com two years earlier, seen one playoff run, seen the Twins go down 3-1 versus the Yankees the year before, and was looking forward to defeating the evil empire and writing about it. But here’s the thing: I don’t remember that game. I remember the game after vividly, watching Gardy stay with Joe Nathan one inning too long. I remember the next two games just as vividly, because I was at them. I remember where I was sitting when Ruben Sierra went deep on Juan Rincon. And I remember the weather change that happened right after the game, when the north wind hit, and we walked to our car. But I don’t remember that win. It drives me crazy.” 

Even though John cannot find in his memories the game, he thankfully wrote something down. Here is the conclusion to his game coverage: 

“The Twins did not win last night’s game because of a Cy Young pitcher that was dominant. They won last night’s game because they kept making big plays when they were put in a position to make big plays. Because of that they’ll now get the opportunity to enlist their own ghosts–let’s call them Clamor and Din–this weekend in Minneapolis.”   

Nate Palmer
“I was a few months into my senior year of high school, fully into a cross country season where I was trying to beat personal bests and be a catalyst to lead our team to wins. I also would put plastic bags around my socks early every morning before they hit my shoes as I grabbed my trumpet for early morning marching band practice. This was about the time I really started to enjoy watching the Twins. One of my cross-country teammates and I would go back and forth, talking about the team. I don’t remember what it was like watching the game. With my schedule, who knows if I watched it or if I also had to snag a shift making Blizzards at the local Dairy Queen. This one I will be able to listen to or watch and hopefully will remember more fully the details.” 

Do you remember where you were in 2004? Were you a Baby Twins fan just getting started on this rollercoaster journey? Were you someone who vividly remembers 1987 and 1991 and thought this was the start of another run like those years? Whatever or wherever you were, we would love to read about it below!