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Melissa Berman

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  1. No doubt, an absolutely genius idea and the best design + slogan. Nothing beats the white with red script either
  2. The Twins are back in the playoffs, and that means one thing: so are Homer Hankies! Besides Prince and tater tot hot dish, Minnesotans love almost nothing more than these beloved squares of cloth that Twins fans have proudly waved during every playoff run since 1987. Image courtesy of Melissa Berman Immediately after clinching the AL Central title on Friday night, the Twins announced the return of the iconic hankies, this year emblazoned with "We Believe," a clubhouse mantra, according to Twins President Dave St. Peter. Twins fans can purchase the hankies at the Target Field team store (open during games and from 10-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday on non-game days) and fans who attend a playoff game will receive one, too. The Hankies are $4 a piece. Are you cheering on the Twins from afar? No problem, you can buy them online, too. Just like in 2019, this year's Homer Hankies are red, but fans will be excited to learn that the hankies have returned to the same original, thin material that debuted in 1987, the first year of the Homer Hanky (the 2019 and 2020 renditions of the Homer Hanky were terrycloth towels). In 2016, MLB added a rule (aptly nicknamed the "Homer Hanky Rule") specifying that "in-stadium rally towels" could no longer be white because it can make it difficult for the batter to see the ball. Fans lined up on Saturday morning before the stadium gates even opened to buy the hankies from the team store as soon as they went on sale at 10 a.m. During the game, long lines for the checkout counter also stretched inside the Twins team stores. But a pro tip from me: I noticed during Sunday's game that the merchandise stands in the concourse were also selling hankies, so I walked right up and bought four with no line. Even though local grocery store chain Cub Foods is listed as a sponsor of the hankies, it does not appear that they will be for sale in-store as they have in past years. Fans will go to all ends of the earth to secure a much-coveted hanky, and many make a point to collect every single one. I'm one of them. In 2019, I remember driving around to every Cub Foods store within 30 minutes of me in search of hankies and running into other fans doing the same. Homer Hankies are special to my family, too. I wasn't around yet to see the 1987 and 1991 Twins championship runs, but my parents were. Recognizing how historic these championships were, they bought extra Homer Hankies so each of their future kids could have one. Homer Hankies are one of the special, unique things associated with being a Twins fan. Lots of other teams across sports have rally towels, but who else has a hanky? I will be proud to wave mine again at Target Field during the upcoming wildcard round, just like the generations before me. _ _ _ Are you going to buy a 2023 Homer Hanky? Which past hankies do you have? Let us know with a COMMENT below. View full article
  3. Immediately after clinching the AL Central title on Friday night, the Twins announced the return of the iconic hankies, this year emblazoned with "We Believe," a clubhouse mantra, according to Twins President Dave St. Peter. Twins fans can purchase the hankies at the Target Field team store (open during games and from 10-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday on non-game days) and fans who attend a playoff game will receive one, too. The Hankies are $4 a piece. Are you cheering on the Twins from afar? No problem, you can buy them online, too. Just like in 2019, this year's Homer Hankies are red, but fans will be excited to learn that the hankies have returned to the same original, thin material that debuted in 1987, the first year of the Homer Hanky (the 2019 and 2020 renditions of the Homer Hanky were terrycloth towels). In 2016, MLB added a rule (aptly nicknamed the "Homer Hanky Rule") specifying that "in-stadium rally towels" could no longer be white because it can make it difficult for the batter to see the ball. Fans lined up on Saturday morning before the stadium gates even opened to buy the hankies from the team store as soon as they went on sale at 10 a.m. During the game, long lines for the checkout counter also stretched inside the Twins team stores. But a pro tip from me: I noticed during Sunday's game that the merchandise stands in the concourse were also selling hankies, so I walked right up and bought four with no line. Even though local grocery store chain Cub Foods is listed as a sponsor of the hankies, it does not appear that they will be for sale in-store as they have in past years. Fans will go to all ends of the earth to secure a much-coveted hanky, and many make a point to collect every single one. I'm one of them. In 2019, I remember driving around to every Cub Foods store within 30 minutes of me in search of hankies and running into other fans doing the same. Homer Hankies are special to my family, too. I wasn't around yet to see the 1987 and 1991 Twins championship runs, but my parents were. Recognizing how historic these championships were, they bought extra Homer Hankies so each of their future kids could have one. Homer Hankies are one of the special, unique things associated with being a Twins fan. Lots of other teams across sports have rally towels, but who else has a hanky? I will be proud to wave mine again at Target Field during the upcoming wildcard round, just like the generations before me. _ _ _ Are you going to buy a 2023 Homer Hanky? Which past hankies do you have? Let us know with a COMMENT below.
  4. Hey, I've been to more than a few concerts solo- the thing I've learned is, if I always have to go with someone to places, events etc, I will miss out on a lot of experiences. I'm so happy you ended up making the trip down- it was a joyous night. If there ever was a first round matchup that is favorable for the Twins, it's this one: *all three* games at home playing a lower seed. Let's get to that ALCS. Everything has seemed to come together at the right time (besides injuries perhaps at the moment).
  5. I agree completely. We have the starting pitching for it, we just need to get healthy. We saw how much of a critical difference-maker Royce Lewis is when he's in the lineup
  6. Thanks for the kind words! It was a fun, happy moment, but those playoff wins will be even better!! Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment!!
  7. I love this writeup so much- thank you so much for perfectly encapsulating how it is to be a Twins fan from afar- it's the goal of the broadcasters and me to bring the game alive and into people's homes. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment- hope you can make it to Target Field for one in the future! :)
  8. I'm hoping that this should be the year that the Twins break the streak- Twins playing a lower seed solely at home *should* be able to get it done. Twins won the division, but we know that it was a weak division and seem to have higher expectations this time around. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment!
  9. While the Twins have won a division championship more recently than 2010, they have not had the chance to celebrate the moment with their hometown fans in over a decade. In 2019, the Twins were in Detroit when they clinched the division title. In 2020, the Twins were in Chicago, and fans were all on their couches, too. Twins fans were more than aware of the implications of Friday night's game, and the playoff-like atmosphere at the ballpark was rocking from before the game started until after the last out. Twins fan Megan Knops has a 20-game ticket plan and even traveled to see the team play in Baltimore, but the atmosphere she noticed at Friday’s game was unlike anything she had seen all year. “Everyone was all in from the start,” Knops said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone stand for the lineup announcements outside of the home opener. It was an incredible atmosphere,” she said. Twins fan Kristy Tonderum works for Delaware North in the nonprofit program that runs the concession stands during the games, so she is at every Twins game. But because her job mainly takes place pregame, she was able to catch the game from the stands with friends. "Even pregame, people were excited. Most seem cautiously optimistic," Tonderum said. "The atmosphere was electric. The vibes are so good." Fans' eyes were glued to the out of town scoreboard because the Twins were able to clinch on Friday with two scenarios: 1. The Twins win, or 2. Detroit and Cleveland both lose. Once the Guardians won their game in walk off fashion, fans knew the Twins had to get the job done themselves. Twins fan Kenny Devine has been to 37 games so far this season, and he, too, thought Friday’s game was decidedly different. “I think there is a certain weight that comes with playoff baseball. Each pitch means a little bit more and feels that way. The ballpark had that feel tonight. It was electric,” he said. Devine remembers watching the Twins win their run of division championships as a kid in the early 2000s, and he now has an even greater appreciation on how special of a feat winning a division championship is. He was not going to miss a chance to see Twins wave the championship banner in person. “I’m a big baseball history fan, especially when it comes to the Twins. Tonight was a night you don’t take for granted," Devine said. “Growing up with the Twins in the 2000s, I think I took it for granted that we would win the Central. I don’t have that mindset anymore and was very happy to be able to celebrate this team winning the division," he said. During the game, the park’s lower level was almost full, and fans in the upper sections filled many of the seats until the last row. Fans stood on their feet for the entire top of the ninth 9th inning and did a slow clap before potential Jhoan Durán strikeouts. Once the Twins got the final out in the ninth inning, the party was on. Fans in the crowd wrapped each other up in big hugs. The Twins players mobbed each other on the infield, passed out division championship shirts and hats, and waved around a giant championship banner. Manager Rocco Baldelli and other Twins players like Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober ran along the field sidelines to high-five the crowd. Ushers were giving out high fives to fans. Twins players chased after their young children on the infield and took pictures with their families, and all Target Field screens displayed “AL Central Division Champions 2023.” “We’re going to get that first win since 2004, I promise you that,” Kyle Farmer assured the crowd in his postgame interview on the big screen while holding his young son, sparking huge cheers from the fans. Many fans stayed in the stands for about 20 minutes after the game until Twins players exited the field to begin the team’s champagne-soaked celebration in the clubhouse. Fans took pictures and lingered in the seats, soaking in the night's joy. Others outside the ballpark crowded around the giant screen near the transit station, where the Twins were broadcasting Bally Sports North's coverage of the clubhouse celebration. While everyone was celebrating, the Twins announced on the big screen that 2023 AL Central Division championship merchandise was now on sale in the team stores. The much-coveted Homer Hankies would be on sale at 10 a.m. the next day, September 23. While Twins fans in attendance allowed themselves to bask in the glow of the team’s first division championship since 2020, they also knew that the job is not finished: playoffs lay ahead. And fans are feeling optimistic that this is the year and lineup to finally break "the streak." “I truly believe this is the team that will end the streak and bring a huge party to Target Field,” Knops said. “They are so well-rounded and are hitting their stride at the right time,” Knops said. It probably is not necessary to remind the reader that the Twins have lost a practically-statistically-impossible 18 playoff games in a row. But this year is different, said fans on Friday. “The streak will end. And I can’t wait,” Tonderum said. __ __ __ Were you at the ballpark to witness the Twins clinch their 2023 playoff berth? What did you think of the atmosphere? Or, if you were watching the game from elsewhere, how did you celebrate? Let us know with a COMMENT below.
  10. On an electric Friday night, Twins fans packed Target Field, hoping to see the team officially lock up their spot in the 2023 MLB playoffs. And sure enough, they got their wish: for the first time since 2010, the Twins clinched a playoff berth at home in front of a raucous crowd of 32,006. Image courtesy of Melissa Berman While the Twins have won a division championship more recently than 2010, they have not had the chance to celebrate the moment with their hometown fans in over a decade. In 2019, the Twins were in Detroit when they clinched the division title. In 2020, the Twins were in Chicago, and fans were all on their couches, too. Twins fans were more than aware of the implications of Friday night's game, and the playoff-like atmosphere at the ballpark was rocking from before the game started until after the last out. Twins fan Megan Knops has a 20-game ticket plan and even traveled to see the team play in Baltimore, but the atmosphere she noticed at Friday’s game was unlike anything she had seen all year. “Everyone was all in from the start,” Knops said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen everyone stand for the lineup announcements outside of the home opener. It was an incredible atmosphere,” she said. Twins fan Kristy Tonderum works for Delaware North in the nonprofit program that runs the concession stands during the games, so she is at every Twins game. But because her job mainly takes place pregame, she was able to catch the game from the stands with friends. "Even pregame, people were excited. Most seem cautiously optimistic," Tonderum said. "The atmosphere was electric. The vibes are so good." Fans' eyes were glued to the out of town scoreboard because the Twins were able to clinch on Friday with two scenarios: 1. The Twins win, or 2. Detroit and Cleveland both lose. Once the Guardians won their game in walk off fashion, fans knew the Twins had to get the job done themselves. Twins fan Kenny Devine has been to 37 games so far this season, and he, too, thought Friday’s game was decidedly different. “I think there is a certain weight that comes with playoff baseball. Each pitch means a little bit more and feels that way. The ballpark had that feel tonight. It was electric,” he said. Devine remembers watching the Twins win their run of division championships as a kid in the early 2000s, and he now has an even greater appreciation on how special of a feat winning a division championship is. He was not going to miss a chance to see Twins wave the championship banner in person. “I’m a big baseball history fan, especially when it comes to the Twins. Tonight was a night you don’t take for granted," Devine said. “Growing up with the Twins in the 2000s, I think I took it for granted that we would win the Central. I don’t have that mindset anymore and was very happy to be able to celebrate this team winning the division," he said. During the game, the park’s lower level was almost full, and fans in the upper sections filled many of the seats until the last row. Fans stood on their feet for the entire top of the ninth 9th inning and did a slow clap before potential Jhoan Durán strikeouts. Once the Twins got the final out in the ninth inning, the party was on. Fans in the crowd wrapped each other up in big hugs. The Twins players mobbed each other on the infield, passed out division championship shirts and hats, and waved around a giant championship banner. Manager Rocco Baldelli and other Twins players like Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober ran along the field sidelines to high-five the crowd. Ushers were giving out high fives to fans. Twins players chased after their young children on the infield and took pictures with their families, and all Target Field screens displayed “AL Central Division Champions 2023.” “We’re going to get that first win since 2004, I promise you that,” Kyle Farmer assured the crowd in his postgame interview on the big screen while holding his young son, sparking huge cheers from the fans. Many fans stayed in the stands for about 20 minutes after the game until Twins players exited the field to begin the team’s champagne-soaked celebration in the clubhouse. Fans took pictures and lingered in the seats, soaking in the night's joy. Others outside the ballpark crowded around the giant screen near the transit station, where the Twins were broadcasting Bally Sports North's coverage of the clubhouse celebration. While everyone was celebrating, the Twins announced on the big screen that 2023 AL Central Division championship merchandise was now on sale in the team stores. The much-coveted Homer Hankies would be on sale at 10 a.m. the next day, September 23. While Twins fans in attendance allowed themselves to bask in the glow of the team’s first division championship since 2020, they also knew that the job is not finished: playoffs lay ahead. And fans are feeling optimistic that this is the year and lineup to finally break "the streak." “I truly believe this is the team that will end the streak and bring a huge party to Target Field,” Knops said. “They are so well-rounded and are hitting their stride at the right time,” Knops said. It probably is not necessary to remind the reader that the Twins have lost a practically-statistically-impossible 18 playoff games in a row. But this year is different, said fans on Friday. “The streak will end. And I can’t wait,” Tonderum said. __ __ __ Were you at the ballpark to witness the Twins clinch their 2023 playoff berth? What did you think of the atmosphere? Or, if you were watching the game from elsewhere, how did you celebrate? Let us know with a COMMENT below. View full article
  11. Immediately after the Twins finished shaking hands, a crew wheeled out a pre-assembled stage from left field. It took the stage crew about a half hour to set up the stage, with Pearce kicking off her set at 9:15 p.m. While Pearce often performs at awards shows and country music festivals, playing at Target Field was a unique experience for her. "I have to say this is the first time I've ever played in the middle of a baseball field," Pearce told the crowd with a laugh while kicking off a show. Pearce entered the field on the back of a golf cart driven from left field. During her 75-minute set, Pearce, wearing a custom Twins jersey with the number 29 after her 2021 album "29: Written in Stone," performed songs ranging from retrospective to empowering. In between songs, she shared heartfelt anecdotes with the crowd, such as how much her fans mean to her, and she almost constantly waved and acknowledged her fans, many of whom were women and young girls, even while singing. It was wholesome and sweet. Pearce recounted to the crowd how she worked many jobs while chasing her country music dream. She told the crowd she wrote the song "Every Little Thing," her biggest hit, while she was employed cleaning AirBnbs. Other anecdotes were more humorous. Pearce told the crowd that her "bucket list" artist she always wanted to collaborate on a song with was Chris Stapleton. In true modern-day fashion, she said she messaged Stapleton's wife on Instagram saying so. The two artists then teamed up on "We Don't Fight Anymore." Fans slow danced, swayed, and pulled out their cell phone lights to some of her slower, introspective songs like "Never Wanted to Be That Girl." Even though Pearce is an accomplished songwriter and Grammy Award winner in her own right, the night's biggest cheers came when Pearce performed Shania Twain's Girl Power-infused "Man! I feel like a Woman!" in the middle of her set. Some Twins players and their families stuck around for part of the concert, including Brock Stewart, Alex Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, and Kyle Farmer, who was adorably playing with and chasing around his young son in front of the Twins dugout. Target Field has hosted many shows this season; Pearce's is the last. Hip hop artist T-Pain performed a postgame show on June 15, Imagine Dragons and The Killers headlined the inaugural TC Summer Fest during the July All-Star Break, and Pink brought her highflying "Summer Carnival" tour to Target Field in August. While Pearce drew a smaller crowd than fellow country artist Cole Swindell last season and T-Pain in June, she put on an excellent show for those in the crowd. Oozing warmth and genuine gratitude, she repeatedly thanked those in attendance for sticking around and even waved and called out to those sitting way up in Target Field's upper deck, saying that she wished they were closer. Pearce seemed genuinely excited to be in Minnesota, and she gave Twins fans, even those who might not be wild about country music, plenty to love.
  12. On a humid late summer night following an electric, homerun-filled 7-5 win vs. the Texas Rangers, the Twins kept the party going by hosting country music artist Carly Pearce, the last postgame concert of the year. Image courtesy of Melissa Berman Immediately after the Twins finished shaking hands, a crew wheeled out a pre-assembled stage from left field. It took the stage crew about a half hour to set up the stage, with Pearce kicking off her set at 9:15 p.m. While Pearce often performs at awards shows and country music festivals, playing at Target Field was a unique experience for her. "I have to say this is the first time I've ever played in the middle of a baseball field," Pearce told the crowd with a laugh while kicking off a show. Pearce entered the field on the back of a golf cart driven from left field. During her 75-minute set, Pearce, wearing a custom Twins jersey with the number 29 after her 2021 album "29: Written in Stone," performed songs ranging from retrospective to empowering. In between songs, she shared heartfelt anecdotes with the crowd, such as how much her fans mean to her, and she almost constantly waved and acknowledged her fans, many of whom were women and young girls, even while singing. It was wholesome and sweet. Pearce recounted to the crowd how she worked many jobs while chasing her country music dream. She told the crowd she wrote the song "Every Little Thing," her biggest hit, while she was employed cleaning AirBnbs. Other anecdotes were more humorous. Pearce told the crowd that her "bucket list" artist she always wanted to collaborate on a song with was Chris Stapleton. In true modern-day fashion, she said she messaged Stapleton's wife on Instagram saying so. The two artists then teamed up on "We Don't Fight Anymore." Fans slow danced, swayed, and pulled out their cell phone lights to some of her slower, introspective songs like "Never Wanted to Be That Girl." Even though Pearce is an accomplished songwriter and Grammy Award winner in her own right, the night's biggest cheers came when Pearce performed Shania Twain's Girl Power-infused "Man! I feel like a Woman!" in the middle of her set. Some Twins players and their families stuck around for part of the concert, including Brock Stewart, Alex Kirilloff, Royce Lewis, and Kyle Farmer, who was adorably playing with and chasing around his young son in front of the Twins dugout. Target Field has hosted many shows this season; Pearce's is the last. Hip hop artist T-Pain performed a postgame show on June 15, Imagine Dragons and The Killers headlined the inaugural TC Summer Fest during the July All-Star Break, and Pink brought her highflying "Summer Carnival" tour to Target Field in August. While Pearce drew a smaller crowd than fellow country artist Cole Swindell last season and T-Pain in June, she put on an excellent show for those in the crowd. Oozing warmth and genuine gratitude, she repeatedly thanked those in attendance for sticking around and even waved and called out to those sitting way up in Target Field's upper deck, saying that she wished they were closer. Pearce seemed genuinely excited to be in Minnesota, and she gave Twins fans, even those who might not be wild about country music, plenty to love. View full article
  13. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to leave a comment! I love looking back at all the bobbleheads, bats, and autographs I got going to games at the Dome/ the free signings. That 2003 autographed program is special- you got it even before broke out! Also, my brother loved Matthew LeCeoy because his name was also Matthew haha.
  14. Thanks, Squirrel :) This is a happy, light piece- let's keep the comments that way too!
  15. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment! I agree, his hitting stats and how great of a defensive catcher he was merit MLB HOF consideration, in my view
  16. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment! His on-the-field playing career can be debated, but his cultural impact due to him being a hometown hero can't be debated
  17. I agree completely- what he did as a catcher was a remarkable feat at the time and will continue to hold up as so. I don't see as good of a hitting AND defensive catcher coming around in the MLB for a while. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment!
  18. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment :) His playing legacy can be debated, but he is one of the best ambassadors to the game we've had and no one can deny the cultural impact he had on the state + kids. Definitely someone we can be proud to say is from Minnesota
  19. Growing up watching the dynamic duo of Mauer and Morneau was such a joy :) I still have a pile of Mauer shirts/ shirseys- I'll have to decide which one to wear to the game tomorrow 😄 Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment!
  20. Some Twins fans grew up watching Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva. Others found their heroes in Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek, or Chuck Knoblauch. We grew up watching Joe Mauer, and we wanted to be just like him. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports When Joe Mauer is inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame Saturday, joining 37 other players and staff like Kirby Puckett, Jim Kaat, and Tom Kelly, Twins fans will have a chance to look back at a childhood hero, and arguably the biggest star Minnesota sports has ever seen. One cannot overstate the impact that Joe Mauer had on the state in the early-to-mid 2000s and what it was like being a kid watching Mauer’s reign. To Twins fans of a certain age, Mauer represents some of our first memories of being a fan. He was not only an “American Idol” like the famous Sports Illustrated cover proclaimed, but a hometown, childhood hero, and a role model. As a kid who grew up playing softball with a baseball-playing brother and an older sister who also played softball, Twins baseball was huge in our family. We watched all the games on FSN North, our parents took us down to games at the Metrodome almost weekly, and we went to all the free player autograph signings at Cub Foods and the now-defunct Twins Pro Shop stores. And Mauer was everywhere. He was the star of the hilarious Twins “This is Twins Territory” commercials of the 2000s, including one paying homage to the classic Mean Joe Green Coca-Cola TV commercial in which Mauer gives a kid his sideburns (fun fact- the kid in this commercial is the brother-in-law of Twins Daily writer Lou Hennessy) and one in which pitcher and “Joe Mauer’s teammate” Pat Neshek fields questions from crazed Mauer fans who want to know if Mauer has a girlfriend, if he smells nice, and even what his favorite kind of cheese is. “Kids, does anyone have any questions that aren’t about Joe Mauer?” asks the Twins PR staffer (commercial at 1:36 of this video). Then, when the Twins were preparing to make a move to Target Field and take baseball into great Minnesota outdoors, Mauer and Joe Nathan starred in the classic “Take It Outside” commercial featuring Mauer’s mother, Teresa, and the nostalgic “Sandlot” commercial in which Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer play some sandlot baseball at the future Target Field stadium site. He was in a “This is SportsCenter” commercial with Scott Van Pelt, in which Van Pelt, who does not know anything about Minnesota, humorously tries to relate to Mauer the Minnesotan. “You ever meet Prince?” Van Pelt asks Mauer. He was on national magazine covers, in video game commercials like MLB 10 The Show and MLB 11 The Show, in which Mauer is still a really nice guy even when getting taunted while playing The Show and instead lets is bat do the talking, and national shampoo commercials. Locally, he was in even more TV spots, like for local health clubs. Mauer, arguably, is the biggest sports star Minnesota has ever had. Think about it: when has Minnesota otherwise had a sports star on the cover of video games and national TV spots? Never. (The number of kids who do the Griddy on the Target Field big screen suggests that Justin Jefferson might reach these heights, but he is the only star I see as having the potential to reach this type of national visibility. And yet, there are so many other high-profile NFL stars to compete with, and the batting stats Mauer managed to have as a catcher were truly remarkable). But even as Mauer’s national star rose, he was still ours- the hometown kid from St. Paul who never left and continues to make Minnesota his home. Outside of TV commercials, he was on “Got Milk?” posters we had hanging up in school, and he was on a Minnesota Department of Health anti-smoking poster emblazoned with “Fast, fearless, strong, and tobacco free” with a picture of Mauer mid-swing that I still have hanging up in my childhood bedroom. Kids in backyards playing wiffleball pretended to be Mauer, and undoubtedly he inspired more than a few kids to put on catcher’s gear. Kids practiced using Joe Mauer’s QuickSwing hitting device. Kids wanted to “be like Joe” and always the friendly, wholesome role model known for community volunteering and signing autographs; parents were all for it. A common thread among commercials and 2000’s media featuring Mauer is that he was shown as a wholesome family man. He epitomized "Minnesota Nice." His mother, Teresa, frequently starred in commercials with Mauer, like the “Take it Outside” spot and a Kemps Ice cream commercial in which Mauer catches a scoop of ice cream like a popup in the kitchen. In a different Kemps commercial for milk, Mauer shows up for dinner at his mother’s door with a bouquet and a gallon of milk. “Boy, that was good, just like old times, huh, ma?” Mauer says after dinner as he takes a big swig of milk. “Exactly, so you’ll be doing the dishes,” Teresa Mauer responds. The message of these commercials seems to say that even though we may know him as a multi-millionaire All-Star and batting champion, he still loves his mom, does the dishes, and is still that boy from St. Paul. Mauer was also portrayed as a type of “everyman” like us: even though he is a national star and an adult, he plays video games with his friends, eats dinner with his family, and keeps his hair and sideburns looking good using Head and Shoulders shampoo. Commercials showing Mauer playing sandlot baseball and video games also show Mauer in a nostalgic light that makes us think of our own childhoods. I remember my parents taking my siblings and me down to Joe Mauer Bat Day at the ‘Dome in 2006 and waiting in long, snaking lines for it- but it was all worth it, and I still have that beauty today. There was also a Joe Mauer sideburns giveaway in 2006. And when he put on the catcher’s gear one last time in his final game in 2018, there was no dry eye in the stadium. A recent college graduate, I watched Mauer step behind the plate from my spot along the first baseline. I wasn’t a little kid anymore- and Mauer had a constant presence on the team from the time I was in 4th grade until I was in law school. In the literal sense, I grew up watching Mauer. So, on Saturday, as the Twins induct Mauer into the coveted Twins Hall of Fame, fans will once again have a chance to celebrate one of Minnesota’s biggest points of pride and a nostalgic, childhood hero to many. View full article
  21. When Joe Mauer is inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame Saturday, joining 37 other players and staff like Kirby Puckett, Jim Kaat, and Tom Kelly, Twins fans will have a chance to look back at a childhood hero, and arguably the biggest star Minnesota sports has ever seen. One cannot overstate the impact that Joe Mauer had on the state in the early-to-mid 2000s and what it was like being a kid watching Mauer’s reign. To Twins fans of a certain age, Mauer represents some of our first memories of being a fan. He was not only an “American Idol” like the famous Sports Illustrated cover proclaimed, but a hometown, childhood hero, and a role model. As a kid who grew up playing softball with a baseball-playing brother and an older sister who also played softball, Twins baseball was huge in our family. We watched all the games on FSN North, our parents took us down to games at the Metrodome almost weekly, and we went to all the free player autograph signings at Cub Foods and the now-defunct Twins Pro Shop stores. And Mauer was everywhere. He was the star of the hilarious Twins “This is Twins Territory” commercials of the 2000s, including one paying homage to the classic Mean Joe Green Coca-Cola TV commercial in which Mauer gives a kid his sideburns (fun fact- the kid in this commercial is the brother-in-law of Twins Daily writer Lou Hennessy) and one in which pitcher and “Joe Mauer’s teammate” Pat Neshek fields questions from crazed Mauer fans who want to know if Mauer has a girlfriend, if he smells nice, and even what his favorite kind of cheese is. “Kids, does anyone have any questions that aren’t about Joe Mauer?” asks the Twins PR staffer (commercial at 1:36 of this video). Then, when the Twins were preparing to make a move to Target Field and take baseball into great Minnesota outdoors, Mauer and Joe Nathan starred in the classic “Take It Outside” commercial featuring Mauer’s mother, Teresa, and the nostalgic “Sandlot” commercial in which Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer play some sandlot baseball at the future Target Field stadium site. He was in a “This is SportsCenter” commercial with Scott Van Pelt, in which Van Pelt, who does not know anything about Minnesota, humorously tries to relate to Mauer the Minnesotan. “You ever meet Prince?” Van Pelt asks Mauer. He was on national magazine covers, in video game commercials like MLB 10 The Show and MLB 11 The Show, in which Mauer is still a really nice guy even when getting taunted while playing The Show and instead lets is bat do the talking, and national shampoo commercials. Locally, he was in even more TV spots, like for local health clubs. Mauer, arguably, is the biggest sports star Minnesota has ever had. Think about it: when has Minnesota otherwise had a sports star on the cover of video games and national TV spots? Never. (The number of kids who do the Griddy on the Target Field big screen suggests that Justin Jefferson might reach these heights, but he is the only star I see as having the potential to reach this type of national visibility. And yet, there are so many other high-profile NFL stars to compete with, and the batting stats Mauer managed to have as a catcher were truly remarkable). But even as Mauer’s national star rose, he was still ours- the hometown kid from St. Paul who never left and continues to make Minnesota his home. Outside of TV commercials, he was on “Got Milk?” posters we had hanging up in school, and he was on a Minnesota Department of Health anti-smoking poster emblazoned with “Fast, fearless, strong, and tobacco free” with a picture of Mauer mid-swing that I still have hanging up in my childhood bedroom. Kids in backyards playing wiffleball pretended to be Mauer, and undoubtedly he inspired more than a few kids to put on catcher’s gear. Kids practiced using Joe Mauer’s QuickSwing hitting device. Kids wanted to “be like Joe” and always the friendly, wholesome role model known for community volunteering and signing autographs; parents were all for it. A common thread among commercials and 2000’s media featuring Mauer is that he was shown as a wholesome family man. He epitomized "Minnesota Nice." His mother, Teresa, frequently starred in commercials with Mauer, like the “Take it Outside” spot and a Kemps Ice cream commercial in which Mauer catches a scoop of ice cream like a popup in the kitchen. In a different Kemps commercial for milk, Mauer shows up for dinner at his mother’s door with a bouquet and a gallon of milk. “Boy, that was good, just like old times, huh, ma?” Mauer says after dinner as he takes a big swig of milk. “Exactly, so you’ll be doing the dishes,” Teresa Mauer responds. The message of these commercials seems to say that even though we may know him as a multi-millionaire All-Star and batting champion, he still loves his mom, does the dishes, and is still that boy from St. Paul. Mauer was also portrayed as a type of “everyman” like us: even though he is a national star and an adult, he plays video games with his friends, eats dinner with his family, and keeps his hair and sideburns looking good using Head and Shoulders shampoo. Commercials showing Mauer playing sandlot baseball and video games also show Mauer in a nostalgic light that makes us think of our own childhoods. I remember my parents taking my siblings and me down to Joe Mauer Bat Day at the ‘Dome in 2006 and waiting in long, snaking lines for it- but it was all worth it, and I still have that beauty today. There was also a Joe Mauer sideburns giveaway in 2006. And when he put on the catcher’s gear one last time in his final game in 2018, there was no dry eye in the stadium. A recent college graduate, I watched Mauer step behind the plate from my spot along the first baseline. I wasn’t a little kid anymore- and Mauer had a constant presence on the team from the time I was in 4th grade until I was in law school. In the literal sense, I grew up watching Mauer. So, on Saturday, as the Twins induct Mauer into the coveted Twins Hall of Fame, fans will once again have a chance to celebrate one of Minnesota’s biggest points of pride and a nostalgic, childhood hero to many.
  22. Hopefully next year they just have cheaper tickets from the get go. It was pretty unfair that people who jumped on tickets right away were rewarded with paying the highest prices. I heard there were some lines for the concession stands, I'm sure in part due to closures of some stands. Oliver Tree I had never heard of before- apparently he makes internet, jokey-type music, but I guess he's pretty big (he has twice the amount of monthly followers on spotify than AJR, which I was really surprised about) but I suppose at least they were able to get someone other than a local band for this slot. I really enjoyed Friday's lineup. I just enjoy live music in general, so even though The Flaming Lips were a little out there for me, I still had fun with the experience! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
  23. This past weekend for the first time, Twins and music fans swung down to Target Field not to watch a Pablo López masterclass or a Byron Buxton upper deck blast, but to take in some good ol' rock and roll music at the inaugural TC Summer Fest, a two-day music festival. Image courtesy of Melissa Berman The Twins hit a solid double with the inaugural TC Summer Fest. A complete, out-of-the-park home run, perhaps not, but it should be considered a success, due mainly in part to electric performances by each night’s headliners, and I and every other attendee with whom I spoke said they had a blast at the event. And to me, whether or not fans ultimately had a good time at the event matters most of all in judging its success. Target Field has hosted several other rock shows, including Journey and Def Leppard in 2018, the Eagles and Jimmy Buffett in 2018, and Weezer and Green Day last summer, but it has never hosted a full-on music festival. TC Summer Fest comes when other area festivals have shuttered or were canceled for 2023, including Walker Art Center’s Rock the Garden, Twin Cities Summer Jam, and the Basilica Block Party. This inaugural concert likely sought to capitalize on a Twin Cities market featuring no other rock festivals. On Friday night, despite playing in front of a noticeably sparse crowd (the Twins closed the entire upper deck and upgraded everyone with nosebleed tickets to better seats in the stadium), Las Vegas-based anthemic rockers The Killers brought down Target Field’s nonexistent roof: they opened with the ubiquitous anthem “Mr. Brightside,” which the Twins have perhaps not coincidentally been using as one of its stadium singalong songs this season, and followed it up with crowd-favorite hits like “Somebody Told Me,” “When You Were Young,” “Human,” and “All These Things That I Have Done,” which electric front man Brandon Flowers led the entire crowd in singing its refrain. Partway through the show, Flowers, who wore a dazzling, Princelike purple coat for most of the performance, introduced Prince’s “I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man” as a “nod” to our “hometown.” There were a few other local nods on Friday: one of the drummers of The Flaming Lips wore a "Win Twins" Minnie and Paul Twins t-shirt during their performance, and front man Wayne Coyne held up a giant balloon display that said "F--- Yeah Twin Cities," which he then tossed into the crowd. Supporting act Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard humorously acknowledged that they were playing at a baseball stadium by joking that he was getting distracted by all the good food smells. He said we probably had some sort of "f----- up" food like a "three-foot-long hot dog," (which, he's not off there- remember the Boomstick?) before requesting that the fans send him one backstage. On Saturday, a bigger crowd of 27,000, many families with children, filled Target Field for Imagine Dragons. The Twins opened up the upper deck for this day, and the Dragons dazzled the crowd with stadium-friendly hits like “Believer,” “Thunder,” and “I’m On Top of the World,” the last of which the Twins have used in the past as their in-stadium win song. The event had emcees, including local radio personalities, to introduce the musical acts, which was a nice touch. Overall, I was impressed with the logistics of the festival, and after having run many concerts there over the years, it was no wonder they had it down to a science. Security to get into the stadium was a breeze: completely smooth and fast with the help of the new Evolv scanners. On the field, there were drink vendors and a good number of portable bathrooms. Plenty of employees were down on the field checking tickets and helping answer questions. My only complaint was that there wasn’t anywhere to fill up a water bottle down on the field (though you could buy water), so at one point, I left the field to walk up the stairs and fill it at a drinking fountain. But the new, giant Target Field big screen provided an excellent way for those further from the stage to see the action, and I thought the stage setup, with on-field screens on either side of the stage, was fan-friendly. Friday's music acts all began almost exactly on time, which I greatly appreciated. Despite the musical acts being a success, there is room for improvement for next year, and I’m sure the event organizers will learn a lot from this year’s trial run. Among the issues, tickets were too expensive. When tickets went on sale in May, tickets for the standing pit in front of the stage were $239, floor seats were $219, and even the cheap seats in the upper deck were $74, all before fees. The argument could be that people are getting five musical acts for their money, but this was enough to dissuade some of the more casual music fans I know who perhaps would have been interested in swinging down to the stadium to see Death Cab for Cutie, for example, but were not willing to pay top dollar. Then the Twins began running a 50% off ticket sale for at least the last month before the show, after I had bought pit tickets to see my lifelong favorite band, The Killers, on Friday night. Oh well. The Twins were pushing ticket sales up until the day of the event, and based on the empty seats, I can see why. Other issues are that TC Summerfest also took place on the same weekend as the sold-out Lakefront Music Festival in Prior Lake (not the planners' fault; they had to schedule it during the All Star Break); some online said that they had hardly heard about the festival, even though video board ads inside the stadium during games were almost omnipresent; and second-on-the-Saturday-bill AJR backed out with a couple of weeks until the festival (this is of no fault to the festival organizers either, but it certainly didn’t help sell last-minute tickets). There is also the issue that the first musical act started at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, a day when many were working. On Friday, local group Yam House and indie pop band Cannons played in front of a sparse crowd before fans arrived for Death Cab for Cutie at 6 p.m. Saturday started at the same time, but at least it was a weekend. Other fans on social media were less than enthused with Saturday’s lineup in particular, though this was the more-attended day of the two. Though music acts are a matter of personal preference, to many, at least three or four of the acts on Saturday were new names to them. There is nothing wrong with discovering new music at a festival and not every single name needs to be A-list, especially in the first year of a festival that is just trying to get its feet wet, and yet, people would likely not want to pay $100-$200 for that. And then there is the fact that Summerfest, the nationally-renowned, mega three-weekend music festival in Milwaukee, has filed a lawsuit against the Twins for trademark infringement for the use of the term “Summer Fest,” While I don’t think that many people are going to confuse the two events (though Summerfest thinks so), I wonder why the Twins chose that name, which is regionally-synonymous with Milwaukee’s bash, and why they didn’t choose something like the Target Field Summer Jam or even more generally the Target Field Music Festival (this is what I was referring to it as with my friends who hadn’t heard of the event). Hopefully, the event will be back and even better next year, and the event organizers learn from some of this year’s growing pains and make it even bigger and better. It really is nice to have another local music festival right in town in a landscape with so few nearby, and I applaud the Twins for being ambitious and taking on a music festival. Indeed, I know how difficult it is to make a go of it with music festivals- this past spring. Racket MN did a great story on what happened to all the MN music festivals. But overall, the organizers threw a pleasant, enjoyable music festival experience for fans, I had a blast, and the event staff and planners deserve to put on a collective "Land of 10,000 Rakes" vest for this one. - - Did you attend the inaugural TC Summer Fest? What were your impressions? Let us know in a COMMENT below. View full article
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