As I sit here and write it is an amazing -3 degrees outside the window two feet to my left. However at this very same time there is a truck being loaded a few miles away that will carry the gear of my Minnesota Twins down to Florida for Spring Training. Pitchers and catchers report in eight days which means there’s going to be plenty of coverage of Joe Mauer on my local news station for the next six months.
This is an amazing thing.
Being as the sun does not do much for my skin and where I live summer means humidity and tornadoes, baseball is what I look to in these months for entertainment.
I think what I love best about the sport is that it’s nearly a daily activity. And, even if your team stinks as badly as the 2004 Tigers did, you still get to see them win forty-three times. This is something that cannot be said about any other sport.
Growing up I got to see Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbeck play together.
Kirby was in Minnesota to what Michael Jordan was to the entire nation. An idol.
Baseball games for me usually go hand in hand with family time. Usually my cousins and I gear up in jerseys and homer hankies before buying tickets from scalpers on the street. We like to think we are quite sly about our purchasing methods, and I am certain the scalpers feel the same.
Once in our seats with dome dogs, soda and cotton candy at hand we whip out the digital cameras and begin making memories of the current game. Maybe instead we should have other people take the pictures as the angle is usually quite off.
Once the game begins we watch every play. Unless of course the gentlemen in the seats below us offer to buy adult beverages for my sister who will then feel the need to high-five everyone in the nearest three sections.
The greatest games are of course the games against the Yankees. Being only because of the animosity felt for that team by every other place in the country. Two years ago I went the opening game of a three game series against the Yankees and beer bottles were flying along with fists over a statement made about Jeter that was not PG rated. And it was Good Friday for crying out loud. “Minnesota Nice” does not resound when New York is in town.
This year begins with two huge blows: The loss of Tori hunter, who I loved. Also, Santana just got traded for four nobodies. I would like to officially welcome the four nobodies, whose names I don’t even know. I doubt you will fill the void of our Cy Young winner, but I will yell your names loudly as they are announced regardless.
So, yay, Spring training and baseball are beginning. I think this year my Twins may be awful, which I can accept. Now you are going to have to excuse me, I need to go start my car again to make sure the battery does not die before morning because the word spring means nothing here until April is over.
The Pilver 
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you continue to amaze me .
Tony- was it me or that picture of Joe, seriously?
Whole lotta steroid injections.
Amphetamine injections too.
MLB = WWE
corked bats and drugs.
Mr. Mitchell…you are a spoil sport.
-3 degrees? I do not know how you survive in that environment. I would die on the spot right outside of the airport.
Good luck to your Twins. I’m sure they will do a hell of a lot better than our Astros.
Now, about humidity. If you want to experience some serious humidity, come spend a summer down here in Houston or my hometown of Corpus Christi.
I went to Houston one year in August. I will not be doing that again. But, surprisingly, Minnesota has the same weather for a few weeks or more each year.
What turned you off; the city or the climate?
Climate…only in the summer. I went there in December one year and it was beautiful.
Where did you stay here in Houston?
Hmmm…the only place that I really remember is the Days Inn, where we stayed for exactly one day. We also went to and stayed in Corpus Christi, San Antonio, Austin, and the lovely Laredo. It was that trip that introduced me to Big Red Soda.
I’m not a big baseball fan (I was forced to play it as a child), but I did really enjoy the movie, Little Big League when I was younger. That was about the Twins, no?
Yes, it was. I love movies like those that show so much of something familiar to you.
I’m more of a hockey fan myself. How do you feel about the Wild?
I’m more of a hockey fan myself. How do you feel about the Wild?
BASEBALL! I totally forgot about Baseball! I spent many a summer rooting for the A’s…. back when the Bash Brothers were big ( and i mean BIG!) and it was cool to be an A’s fan.
I still love the A’s.
Maybe I can go see a game this year- that’d be awesome.
Kris-I like hockey, though I really don’t follow it. Is it still ok to be bitter about the Stars?
I’m already excited too for baseball season… Did my family tell you that we are going to boston when the twins are there to see the play the red soxs?? that should be pretty neat… haha rachel making friends with those men was priceless… we should go to a seattle marniers game when we are in seattle
Ally-So, you ARE coming! YAY!
WOOO i’m soo excited for twins games!!!
Santana getting traded sucks, but is also a great example of why I can’t get excited about baseball. With no salary cap, the Twins will never ever be able to field a team comparable to the Yankees, cause the Yankees would never have to trade this era’s Nolan Ryan for money reasons. It’s a crying shame. BUT…remember we also traded Chuck Knoblauch for a bunch of “nobodies” who turned out to be Cristian Guzman and Eric Milton, who turned out to be All-Stars. So…oh what does it matter? You’re just in love with Joe Mauer! 😉
Hey now. The Twins have had plenty of near misses in the past few years. And now I have cable, so I can watch them again 🙂