A step back, a different question
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 – 9:06 AMBy Howard
Yesterday’s question about what the Twins should do generated more than 380 comments and there’s some interesting stuff if you have the time to go through it.
Let’s change the subject today.
I was listing to XM on the way home from work yesterday when Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus talked about how he developed his love and interest in the game. It was during the early 1980s and cable TV brought him the Cubs, Braves and Mets. This was before ESPN and the web and when USA Today published comprehensive baseball statistics once a week and fantasy baseball junkies used those numbers to calculate their league standings by hand and calculator.
That got me thinking.
From what I can tell, Section 220 brings together people of different ages and backgrounds, and I’m hoping some of you will share how you got interested and developed your passion for the Twins and for baseball. I grew up in Chicago and always had baseball around because WGN showed whichever team, the Cubs or White Sox, was playing at home. A road game on TV was a special event. The first game I saw in person was between the Angels and White Sox on a Saturday afternoon in July 1965.
For some reason, I’ve always remembered that Rudy May was the starting pitcher for the Angels, but needed to check baseball-reference.com to know that the near-Hall of Famer Tommy John started for the White Sox. Maybe it was because May walked three batters and was pulled before he could pitch to a fourth. I also remember some disappointment that the White Sox didn’t hit a home run, depriving me a chance to see the “exploding scoreboard” shoot fireworks in person.
I’m guessing that makes me older than some of you.
I’m also guessing some of you found the love in Minnesota during 1987 or 1991, or by going to games during the lean years when the Metrodome attracted crowds of below 10,000. Are you a reformed fan of another team? I went to the Met during college days when the Twins played the White Sox and rooted for the visitors from the bleachers.We used to cheerfully taunt Larry Hisle for no other reason than he was the Twins left fielder, and he would now and again give us a good-natured smile in return — the biggest one coming when we greeted him from the bleachers at Comiskey Park during a trip to Chicago.
Want to share your story? We’ll get back to the other stuff tomorrow.
240 Responses to "A step back, a different question"
1987 I formally became a Twins fan. For whatever reason, I decided to start paying attention during spring training that year.
Obviously, my timing was impeccable.
I’d always been a casual baseball fan (grew up in Iowa watching the Cubs on WGN). I moved to Minneapolis in Dec. 2003 and only knew a couple of people. A few days before Opening Day 2004 I saw an ad for Twins season tix for $200 in GA. I figured I’d rather spend 81 days watching baseball than at home watching TV so I bought them. Ended up meeting two guys with the same ticket package who both lived within a block of me. Two of the best friends I’ve ever had and we caught a game in Section 239 (where we met) last week.
I became a die hard Twins fan in 1982. That was the first year our local radio station started carrying Twins games. Prior to that, I only followed them casually in the newspaper. Watching on tv was not an option unless they made it onto NBC’s Game of the Week. It was also the first year of the Metrodome and the first years for Hrbek and Gaetti and Brunansky, who came over in a ST trade with California.
Also the year I saw my first live game - at the Dome against KC and George Brett. We originally bought upperdeck seats but my parents gave me the extra money so I could get a seat down closer to the field. I ended up sitting next to a HS teacher from Grand Rapids, who left HIS family in the upper deck because he was afraid of heights. I found out that he had been a classmate of one of my high school teachers. There were very few people at the game - you could hear people talking on the other side of the field. Many people were out in the concourse watching an early season Gopher football game - more than were watching the Twins it seemed.
Unlike Blake, my timing was horrible. My first year of following baseball was 1992, when I declared myself a Blue Jays fan during the World Series, but by 1993 I had become a Twins fan. I was 10 in 1992 and baseball cards were the big craze at Willow Lake Elementary. I didn’t know much about baseball but quickly got interested. Growing up on a farm miles from civilization in South Dakota, I relied on Twins baseball to get me through much of the boring summers. We didn’t have the Twins on cable, so I listened to about every game on the radio. By 1996 I got to my first game and saw a rare scheduled doubleheader with Oakland at the Dome, and accomplished the rare feat of making it onto the big screen and catching a ball in my Dome debut!
I went to my first Twin’s game at the dome on a high school field trip in 1985(All Star Game was at dome that year?) I watched Ken Strom wiggle his through the game against the Tigers will Alan Trammel, Lou Whitaker”LOUUUUU” as Bob Casey called out his name. Bruno hit a towering HR that I thought would never come down for the first HR I ever saw first hand Kirby robbed Whitaker of a HR jumpping over the CF fence and Ron Davis was given a decent lead to work with he then promptly walked the bases loaded and preceded to strike out the side.. atleast that’s how I remember it.. 
I was hooked from then until Baseball’s strikes and the Lockout of “94″ have tempered my enthusiasm
I went to my first game before I was one year old. I still remember it (the green grass of the field). I guess I didn’t really follow until I was about 12.
As a side note, I was a James Taylor concert during one of the playoff games against Detroit in 1987. The crowd was obviously distracted…until James Taylor announced that the Twins had beat the Tigers.
At that point, the crowd went crazy, standing ovation, etc.
Uggh, need to proofread better.
Should read “I was at a James Taylor concert…”
I grew up with baseball almost taking over my life. As early as I can remember I played and watched a ton of baseball. I’m wearing a Hrbek jersey in my baby pictures. I’m probably one of the few here that was too young to remember either world series. So lucky for me, I grew up as a twins fan of the horrible teams in the 90’s. I think that has allowed me to appreciate the recent run even more. I still grew up with Kirby as my idol, but had a fond opinion of Pat Meares. I think that latter statement explains why they didn’t make the playoffs for over a decade. At this point, I could not imagine a summer without Twins baseball. With the new stadium coming, it can only get better.
I had just turned 8 years old during the 1984 pennant chase, and my dad was really following that close, so I was drawn into it too. I guess that was the start. The Mets/Sox world series in 1986 sucked me in even more, and then 1987 cemented my standing as a die hard baseball fan.
The strike in 94 curbed my enthusiasm some, and Kirbys retirement even more so. By 1999, I was back to being a frequent atendee of games. I was there the night Torii hit his first career slam against Boston.
The 2001 season really got me back into baseball full time again, and leap frogged baseball over football on my priority list, even though the Twins came up short that year.
I remember the 87 team well, I was 10 at the time and glued on my seat as others have stated for obvious reasons. Kirby was my favorite and Herbek was close behind, being a larger man it was easier to see them if you will. I remember the summers listening to the games on the radio while playing in the yard and thinking I had just won the world series. I aslo used to watch the Cubs on WGN, although I wasn’t a Cubs fan I enjoyed watching the National League teams, especially Tony Gwynn and the Padres and the Mets for whatever reason. It has had a profound impact on my life, I remember crying at Kirby’s retirement and now thinking at how blessed I was to watch him play with that boundless energy. He will always be my favorite player.
I also grew up in the Chicago area and didn’t move to MN until 1997 right before I started high school (Go Titans). I was something less than a casual baseball fan until I got caught up in the Twins 2002 run to the LCS while I was in my second year of college. Will never forget that pop-up Guardado got off Durham to end the ALDS. I’ve been a fanatic ever since and still follow them religiously via mlb.tv even though I’m back in the Chicago area. Hardly miss a game.
When I was 3 and was angry I swung a bat and hit a neighbor in the head. My parents got me a tee and that was that. Now I find I don’t really care about it any more, but that’s how it started.
My story is in Seth’s archives somewhere. But, briefly: I grew up with CCO on 24/7. In the summers, that meant Twins games on the portable in the back yard or on the boat. Herb and the Twins were synonymous for me. The Gene Mauch years were particularly memorable. Then they traded Rod and I stopped caring. I came back in 87, which was the year I was married. My wife often says I’m not the man she married because I wasn’t a rabid Twins fan until that summer. 22 years later and she’s accepted the fact that this is no passing fad.
I have been a Twins fan for as long as I can remember and inherited it from my grandfather and father who listened to games on the radio on WCCO. My dad went to the 65 World Series and bought me a pennant which I have unfortunately lost. I, myself, listened to a lot of Twins games on the radio, usually my transistor radio and usually with the lone white earpiece. I remember staying up very late listening in the dark when the Twins were playing on the West Coast. I attended WS games in 1987 and 91 and have made sure the legacy of Twins fandom has been passed on to my kids who still follow Twins action despite being in high school and college. I am particularly proud of my daughters who keep score at games, even when they are there with friends. Finally, I have to say that even in the lean years, I have approached every season with optimism.
I became a Twins and baseball fan in 1982. I was 8 years old, and I remember my Dad telling me about this rookie named Kent Hrbek, who grew up by me and played for the hometown team, who hit long homeruns and did the splits at first base while fielding throws. That was the first time I connected with a team or player, and I’ve been a Twins fan (and a Hrbek fan) ever since.
I grew up watching the Twins. I remember watching both of the world series and stopped paying attention to the Twins after about 93. I just recently started watching them and am loving every minute of it. 16 years later I actually understand the nuance and strategy of the game. I can’t get enough of it!!!
I became a baseball fan in about 82 watching Cubs and Braves games on the superstations. Dale Murphy was my first favorite player and the Braves were my original team. Went to the dome for a game in 1984 from northern MN. From there i drifted toward the Twins. I drifted to football and the Vikings in the 90s but 2001 brought me back to baseball first.
My college roommate was a Cubs fan, and during their 2003 run, she had to have the game on- so naturally, I decided to root for the opposing team. I got sucked in and really enjoyed watching the upstart Marlins beat the Cubs and then the Yankees in their own stadium. That was the first time I’d willingly watched a baseball game/series.
Didn’t think about baseball for a few years, but during Easter break in 2006, I went to my first game at the Dome. Santana pitch against the Yankees, and the Twins had a thrilling come-from-behind victory against Mariano Rivera in the ninth. The Dome went crazy when Morneau’s single plated Castillo and Mauer for the win.
If someone’s first game in person is a really great experience, I think he or she basically has no choice but to become a fan.
I was a Braves fan before ‘61, only because that was the team we heard the most about. Became a Twins fan in ‘61, from day one. First game I attended was that year, vs. the Red Sox. i still have pictures I took at a ‘62 Yankees game, Ford, Maris, Mantle, etc. The Twins won. My dad could get tickets to just about any game. I attended the ‘65 All-star game and game 7 of the ‘65 World Series. Tons of memories from the Met. Moved to Atlanta in ‘72 and attended Braves games. Back to Minnesota in ‘75. Depending on where in Minnesota I lived I either followed the Twins closely, or from a distance. 90 miles to the park today, but I make about 15 games. Looking forward to next year and outdoor baseball!!!!
I first got interested in the Twins in 1986 when my dad took me to my first Twins game. We sat out in left field about half-way up. I remember they were giving away Kent Hrbek T-shirts and from then on I was a huge Hrbek fan. From then on my family always made at least one trip if not two to Minneapolis every summer to watch the Twins. When they won it all in 1987 it was just huge, not only for me but it felt like the whole community was consumed by it. Growing up on a farm near Brentford, SD the Twins were the only thing everyone always talked about in the summer. It was awesome.
First let me say, I’m old.
While developing love for baseball and for the Twins are really two separate questions, I’m one of the few here that can say I’ve had both for pretty much as long as I can remember.
I was 4 yrs old when the Twins opened their first season in Minnesota and my dad was coaching varsity basketball and sophomore baseball in Albert Lea. A few years later, he dropped basketball and became varsity baseball coach. In other words, I pretty much lived and breathed baseball. I’m pretty sure I learned to keep a scorebook before I learned to read and write… and I could calculate batting averages long before I had a clue what math was. I literally played baseball every day, all summer, unless it rained; and I learned the little things… when to hit and run, bunt, play infield in, etc., from the best dad a kid ever had.
I don’t remember my first Twins game, but I’m sure it was in 1961. Those first years, my folks could take a tiny little folding seat in and set it up on a step, rather than buy me a ticket. (Try getting away with THAT now!)
We only made the 100 mile trip to Bloomington once or twice a year (remember, kids, that interstate highway hasn’t ALWAYS been there), but we watched any game that made it on TV and I had a radio by my bed (and eventually a transistor radio) that brought Herb and Halsey in every night.
I also remember that first color TV… maybe 1966 or 1967… and how great it was to see the green grass on the television (and how much it sucked that the lights at the Washington Senators’ stadium were so bad that they couldn’t carry the road games played there in color).
I remember being in 3rd grade during the ‘65 Series… and how the teacher let us have a radio on in the classroom to listen to the games (long before WS games were “prime time only” events)… and how disappointed I was in the outcome of game 7.
Knothole Gang days and Camera Days and any other day I could look forward to visiting Killer and Tony O at the Met were some of the best memories of my youth… right there with the 1969 State High School Tournament, my dad’s last year as a HS coach, where my batboying talents led the Albert Lea Tigers to a State Runner-up finish.
I honestly can not imagine my life not involving baseball.
I grew up in central Minnesota with a father who was a die-hard baseball fan and former college player. He had grown up in Cleveland and was an Indians fan. I still remember attending my first night game ever in 1960 at the big old stadium in Cleveland. We saw Ted Williams hit a homerun, which I recall my father telling me I’d want to remember. For me, the most immediately memorable moment was watching Dick Stigman, who grew up a few miles from my home town and then pitched for the Indians, walk out to the bullpen before the game.
I still remember the lineup from Opening Day in 1961, with Pedro Ramos shutting out the Yankees. I went to the All-Star Game at the Met in 1965, but my father wasn’t able to try for World Series tickets because of health problems.
I’ve been a Twins fan ever since, but haven’t lived in Minnesota since 1971, so sometimes I’ve kind of lost touch. The Internet has rekindled my loyalties—I can read the Tribune every morning just as if I lived next door to the Metrodome and watch every game on MLB.TV.
‘85 All-Star Game. My Stepdad watched almost every televised sporting event, and I was aware of this, even went to a few games, but never really got into it. Then, for some reason, the pageantry of that All-Star Game, knowing it was all happening right down town, and seeing Bruno in the HR derby — it all sucked me in. I watched the Twins toil in mediocrity for the next year and a half, and then I got to live a New York schoolboy’s dream … I watched my favorite team win two World Series before I entered High School. Funniest thing to me though, looking back, is how Kirby was never my favorite Twin when he was playing, but is no contest my favorite today. I always liked Kirby, but I LOVED The Rat and Dazzle. Then Jack Morris and *cough* Knobby *cough* stole my affection in 91. It wasn’t until the Puck retired that I realized how great and how much a part of my childhood he really was. Crazy.
My first exposure to baseball was during the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and Tigers. I listened to a game with my aunt and I wanted the Cubs to win because I liked the sound of the names of two of the players, Phil Cavaretta and Claude Paseau. My aunt told me that the Tigers would win and she was always right.
I began following the Twins in 1963; Harmon Killebrew was, and remains, my favorite athlete, any sport of any time.
I attended the 1965 All Star game and remember being in awe as Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale stood no more than 10 feet from me. I also attended Game 6 of the ‘65 World Series when Mudcat hit his 3-run HR and won 5-1. Over the years, even in lean years, my love for the game grew. First as a player, then as a fan, and now in teaching and coaching the game to my own sons. We also host a Northwoods League player. A little bit of me dies now at the end of Little League season, then a little more at the end of the Northwoods League season. Still more of me dies at the end of the Twins season, and when the last out is made in the World Series there is a real sadness that comes over me and I cant wait for the start of the next baseball season. Safe to say baseball is my family’s passion.
HOW I CAME TO BE A BASEBALL FAN…
1991 World Series. Hrbek wrestling move at first base. Puckett’s homer-robbing catch and then his own walk off home run. Greg Gagne’s cartwheel at the ceremony.
I was raised a Twins fan, and still vividly remember the ‘87 series despite being six years old. During the ‘91 season I was just starting competitive little league, and wanted so badly to play like my hero, Chuck Knoblauch. The strike and subsequent steroid era killed my childhood enthusiasm for the game. However, by chance in the summer of 2006 I caught a Liriano start on ESPN (wasn’t living in MN at the time) and knew I had to see this guy again. Now, I’ve moved back to the TC and try to get to every game I can. Guys like Santana, Liriano, Hunter, Mauer, and Morneau rekindled my love for the game.
My new best friend was into baseball back in the winter of 1982 and I started following the Twins that spring with the home opener at the inflatable toilet. (Metrodome) The game was on TV and I was pulling for Jim Eisenriech SP? who was from St. Cloud as we lived in Alexandria. I remember Dave Engle pretty clearing that game as well. I started collecting baseball cards and would listen to as many games as I could.
My first game was in June that summer and the Twins hit 4 HR’s that game. Gary Ward, Dave Engle, and I can’t remember the other 2. My mom almost stopped my from following them because I would get so mad when they lost. (102 times that summer!)
My Uncle ran the scoreboard for the Twins when they first came to town in ‘61. I loved to go up there and see the view from the small window looking towards home plate. He had 4,660 switches to operate the individual scoreboard lights! The Twins used identical twins for bat boys in the early days. My twin brother died days after birth - what could have been? Later in H.S. I used a Harmon Killebrew bat. Now, how couldn’t you be a Twins fan?
I grew up in South Dakota. My Dad having never been to New York, somehow was a Yankees fan. When I was seven we made the treck to Minneapolis to go to, as my Dad called it, my first Yankees game. On the way there I remember he tricked me into thinking that a rest stop was the dome, and that everyone was underground waiting for the game to start. Once I did actually get into the dome I was amaized. It was the biggest room I’d ever been in and I imagined how sweet it would be if it was my bedroom. During the game I can vividly remember Jessie Barfield throwing out a Twin at Home with his cannon arm. However, Kirby hit a homerun and the Twins won the game. From that point on I was a Twins fan and will be so forever.
It started for me in the summer of 1967.I was nine and got hooked on baseball cards,which lead me to the Twins.As fate would have it that was “The Summer of Yaz” and of course Boston beat the Twins the final two games of the season to clinch the pennant.I cried when Rich Rollins popped up to short to end that last game,but cheered like crazy for the St. Louis Cardinals to beat teh BoSox on the ‘67 series.
I attended my first major league game two years later on a beautiful summer night at the Met.My uncle took me.The Twins beat up on the hapless WhiteSox and Rod Carew stole home for the record tying seventh time that summer.But what I remember most was the sight of the ballpark itself.I was in heaven.
Last week I was able to help pick out our seats for next years return to outdoor baseball(a group got together and purchased a four seat season ticket plan,I have 15 games),I can not wait for 2010!
I was a fan from ‘86 (first game saw Kirby hit a homerun that year) through ‘94 (the strike and retirement of Kent Hrbek kind of slowed down my enjoyment, plus I started to discover girls.) I didn’t become a huge fan again until 2001, when- as a college senior in Iowa- we discovered driving up to the Dome for College Night (which was also on Dollar Dog Night back then) was a cheaper form of entertainment than doing anything down there. I also worked for a Twins Radio Network affiliate from ‘02-’03 and got to meet LaTroy, Hrbek, and Al Newman (who asked me where the “potty” was.)
I also grew up with my Dad’s radio in the back yard or on the boat tuned to Herb and ‘CCO. Twins’ games and Herb’s voice meant summer. In 1970 my Dad and Grandpa took me to a game at the Met. I brought a glove hoping to catch a Harmon Killebrew foul ball and desperately wanted to see him hit an HR that game. He didn’t, but my love affair with baseball and the Twins was cemented.
Can’t wait to get back outside next year!
I was 8 years old in 1987 I had played baseball but never really watched it. I was the middle kid and both of my brothers and I stated making Twins posters in the basement with crayons. We had that old computer paper the one that you had to ripe each page so we could make really long posters. We called the basement “The Twins Zone.” We used all the printer paper it was overboard. It is probably the clearest early memory of my childhood. I was the best that we brothers got along at the time. (My older brother and I never really watched tv together because i remember watching Voltron and when the finally made the big robot i cheered with a fist punch into the air and my brother punched me in the arm pit) My parents let us stay up and watch the games and i remember cheering and not really knowing what I was cheering for. I was a great bonding time for my brothers and me and we all remember it very well. I was thankfully in the Army for the lost years of the Twins so i didn’t have to live through that.
I’ve been a twins fan since i was in grade school. I went to my first game at about 7 or 8 yrs old , watching the killer, tony -o ,and ceasar at the old met. There was something about that perfect sunny day watching outdoors that made the game special to me. I suffered through the lean yrs, there were alot of them,but I stayed a twins fan. I was one of the ppl that was excited about the dome and had lots of good times there also, how could you not with some of the great teams they had plus two world series rings. But I think I am more excited about the new stadium and being outdoors again, always was and always will be a MINNESOTA TWINS fan.
I became a fan when at 6 years old I was woken out of a dead sleep by my mother screaming, “RUN, HERBY, RUN” at the top of her lungs during the 1991 world series. The excitement of that series has sparked a ever lasting love for my Minnesota Twins.
When cleaning out my mother’s house I found my old baseball cards from the fifties (not mint, sigh). I was reminded how my friends and I were Yankee fans growing up until Minnesota gained a Big League Team. We embraced the Twins whole-heartedly, and had a team to see in person several hours away! My passion was fueled even more when Tony Oliva married a local farm girl who met him on “Skip Day” at a game. My Dad and Mom enjoyed baseball also and had nine kids. Mom went into hiding when they passed the Designated Hitter rule, but that’s another story. Dad installed radios on the tractors so my brothers and I could follow the Twins. I’ll never forget the day I had to stop the tractor and cry when the ‘67 Red Sox eliminated us on the last day of the season. 1987 erased that memory and made the last game of last season easier to take. It will be our turn again someday.
Age 4 - my dad took me to my first Twins game (vs. Kansas City Athletics). I remember having a hot dog….we sat in front row behind home plate screen, I remember an umpire talked to me.
I had older brothers and lots of boys in our S. Mpls. neighborhood, we were always playing sports, and probably more “sandlot” baseball than the other sports combined.
Age 6 - T-ball.
Ages 7 - ??. Little league ball.
Watching Twins on TV as a kid (I think they broadcast about 25 games/season back in the 60s). Frank Buetel, Hal Greenwood commercials, Hamm’s beer commercials.
I got to go to about 8 Twins games a year at the Met….dad’s company tickets, plus events like Bat Day, Cub Scouts outing, altar boys outing, etc. I remember the smell of cigar smoke from the old men - season ticket holders in the box seats. I remember the mentally challenged guy that sold newspapers in the stands at the Met. I remember the old black guy that sold beer, he had a great “call”, was a funny, cool dude, and wore a little umbrella attached to a headband on hot sunny days. Frosty malts. Popcorn in cheesy cardboard “horns” that had a blank scoreboard on them, so you could fill in the inning-by-inning runs scored if so inclined (even though that info was on the scoreboard at all times). Sitting in the right field bleachers, near the visitors bullpen. Hal McRae trying to pick up chicks sitting in the bleachers above during the game. Sparky Lyle putting a dollar bill on a string on the fans’ ramp to the seats, and pulling it away as an unsuspecting fan reached down to nab it.
Lots of other baseball-related memories..baseball has been there all my life.
Thanks for letting me reminisce a bit.
JimCrikket,
Did you play HS ball for Albert Lea?If so what years? We might have been Big Nine foes!Rochester John Marshall class of ‘77.
lifelong twins fan - grew up with the crappy teams of the late seventies. Went to ususally a dozen games at the met and watched some on TV. Day games were always on the radio by the pool when I was young.
Back then it was all about Rod Carew.
Back then, I was just a little kid who loved the Twins but did not follow them on a day to day basis. I started actually following them on a day to day basis in the surprising 1984 season, and I was hooked. Although I was no longer playing basesball (hockey was a year round endeavor for me), the Twins became my favorite team to follow because the played nearly every day.
I went less frequently when they moved indoors, although I did go to the first game played at the dome - an exhibition game against the Phillies and sat in the nosebleeds along the third base line.
I have lived in Chicago for the better part of the last 14 years and now thanks to mlb package I can watch the twins on a near daily basis.
I’ve been a fan since I was a kid–which wasn’t that long ago, I suppose. The first game I remember watching was at game five of the 1987 ALCS–I was four. We got to the game, sitting in section 220, no less, and my pops raised his hand for a hot dog. I took note. When the malt cup guy came by, I raised my hand. My dad laughed and gave the guy the money. This set a precedent. During batting practice, I ate two or three hot dogs, a malt cup, and a pretzel. Then when BP was over, I thought the game was over and told my dad that it was good timing; I was ready to go home. (I was four, remember.)
So he bought me more food, and I was content and watched the game. Oddly, I don’t remember much of the game–I just know we won by quite a bit.
Have been a Twinkies fan ever since. Even got Twins wallpaper when I was 10–unfortunately that coincided with some of the their worst seasons ever.
There wasn’t an exact time that I suddenly became a Twins fan, I guess i was just raised right. I know the first game i attended was against the A’s, but i can’t remember if it was in 84 or 85. In 87, we had World Series parties at the house with our friends, they seemed to be a big hit. My love for the Twins continued to grow through the 90’s, even though they weren’t the greatest team around. When i got to college in Bemidji is when i really started going to games and getting into things hardcore. Yeah, it was a long drive, but a couple of days a week, we’d meet in Chemistry lecture and decide it was boring, we should drive 4 hours to the Twins Game, pay 3 dollars for upper deck tickets, tell the security guards we needed to use the ATM (they were only on the first floor at the time) and then sit out in left field. Gas wasn’t much more than a dollar per gallon at the time, and we could make the whole trip for real cheap. Thank God for the internet and Batgirl, i got to follow the twins as closely as ever while serving in Iraq for a year. Not only could I follow the team, but keeping in touch with people and talking baseball sure was a nice cure for missing home! I figure from here on out, it’s only gonna get better!
I met my husband, a lifelong Twins fan, in the Spring of 2006, but I had never been into baseball. When we first started dating, he asked me to go to a Twins game with him. Not knowing hardly any rules to the game (besides the basics), I searched the Internet for an hour trying to learn everything I could so I would know what was going on at the game and wouldn’t have to ask too many questions! Learning the rules made baseball much more enjoyable for me. We went to many games that season and watched the Twins win the Division. We’ve been watching the Twins together ever since!
I miss those Hamm’s beer commercials.
I was going into first grade in 1987 and lots of kids at school were hooked on the twins run that fall. I really didn’t start watching until the world series. I can remember my uncle saying he’d like to see dan gladden hit a HR in game one (and did he ever) and being in my grandpa’s basement running the bases imitating Don Baylor and Kent Hrbek in Game 6. My parents were dancing in front of the tv after the twins won in game 7. From then on I was hooked on baseball.
I became a TWINS baseball fan when my older brother would pull my sister and me out of school to go see an afternoon came at the Met center. As I grew older, the love of baseball grew as well. Whether it is the Twins, college teams, or my own children - there is nothing better than watching a great game.
The day of Game 1 of the 1987 ALCS our 1st grade teacher pulled down the map and showed us where Minneapolis, Detroit, San Francisco and St. Louis where and explained that the Twins would be in the play-offs that night. I recall being vaguely aware of this before, but that certainly made me want to watch that game.
I remember that my sister was baby-sitting me that night, and even though we only got two channels, I still had to fight her to be allowed to watch it. But I prevailed, and even recall her cheering along as the Twins won.
I became a diehard Twins and baseball fan at the age of 6. That just happened to be 1987. I like the first poster, must have impeccable timing.
I was 13 yrs old when the Twins became a team. Before then I followed the Braves for the few years that I was old enough to enjoy the game. Suddenly having a home town team was fantastic and I was hooked. We were not well off and trips to the old Met did not happen often but I still have many fond memories of those early teams with Lenny Green, Bob Allison and Harmon Killebrew among many others that I could name if asked too. The trip to the World Series in ‘65 was just amazing. I’m afraid I’m rambling now so I’ll end it here.
My first recollection of baseball was a game on TV where Enos Slaughter leaned into the right field stands in Yankee stadium to take a home run away (I think 1954). The only games on then were Saturday afternoon game of the week and were in black and white. I became a Yankee fan because they were always on (like now) and I stayed a Yankee fan until my heroes like Whitey, Mickey and Yogi retired, when I switched over to the Twins. I remember delivering the Mpls. Star (the afternoon edition) when the headline was the Senators were moving to the Twin Cities (fall 1960). That was a very exciting day for a young baseball fan. Maybe Howard can dig thru the Star archives and find that headline? I was lucky enough to see the Twins 3rd game at the Met, very big trill for a pre teen baseball fan.
Here is a story about a start of my love for the Twins:
When I was young (young for me being about 1994 times, I’m almost 22 now), I remember playing baseball in my grandparent’s backyard and hearing stories about the MN Twins. My Grandpa pitched batting practice for the Twins back in the 1960’s so he would tell us stories about his times there. I remember when I was about 8 or 9 being invited to go to the Twins game and dance on the plaza because we did a jazz dance to “Center Field”. It was a pretty awesome experience and we got to go to the game after as well!
I’m pretty sure the fact that my grandfather pitched for the Twins, and my family’s love for baseball made me into the hardcore Twins fan that I am today. And the fact that I got to do something I love (Dance) at the Metrodome helps too.
I grew up loving the twins from as early as I can remember. At age 9, I had my own Twins Jacket and Cap. I grew up on a farm in sw mn and walked down our long driveway every morning to get the Star Tribune with the mail at 10:10am. I had a small portable transitor radio and would listen to Rod Carew steal home 7 times while I played in the sandbox. My dad had the car radio on that famous July 65 Sunday aft when Harmon Killebrew hit the last of the ninth 2 out, 3-2 pitch for a grand slam.. I thought my dad was going to drive off the road coming back from the lake… we went on to listen to the radio in grade school during the World Series.. then all that frustration ended when they won the World Series in ‘87. I got tickets for my mom & dad during those playoffs..I was living in the twin cities and they drove up to see a playoff game.. I was so messed up after they won the play off game that I put the milk in the freezer and the ice cream in the fridge that night… Also during the 60’s we would leave the farm at 6am and start the drive to see two aft games on Sat and Sun.. Coming up the stadium on Cedar ave and seeing the stadium for the first time what a site…. was always hoping for a foul ball but none came close.. so when I grew up, and moved to the TC, one Saturday morning I got to Met Stadium before everyone else a bought a ticket on 1st row, 2nd deck just above the screen and caught two baseballs with Jerry Koosman pitching against the Cleve Indians… Now, they need to sign Joe Mauer..the heart and sould of MN and hometown Twins baseball.. One my item.. I took my 8 yr old daughter to game 7 of the ‘91 WS..we were 6 rows above 3rd base 2nd deck… what a game..my daughter’s now 26 and still talks about our memories during her graduation open house from U of M Pharm school.. Twins baseball allows us to escape for a few hours and act like a 10 year old again…
Tinger,
Thanks for your service to our country.
I grew up in Dayton, OH in the 70’s. I remember going to Red’s games and got to witness the Big Red Machine first hand. Wow. That did it for me. The Cubs on cable in the summer tie(particularly 1984) helped cement the love of the game. I still like the Reds and get to a game every couple of years, but I have been a big Twins fans since 85ish.
Good stuff on here today… Seems like we’ve been lucky to have a baseball team that gets good about every 20 years or so which is just enough to make new baseball fans out of every generation. What do the Royals do?
I became a fan of baseball in the late 70’s. My dad was a huge fan of the game and he told me things about baseball and I was rivited. I attended my first game in 1979 at Met Stadium and it was glorious, I’ll never forget how wonderful it felt to have the warm sunshine on my face and trying to spot my favorite player, Roy Smalley. I was so upset when he went to the Yankees. We also had Gary Ward, Hoskin Powell, and Butch “Love That Kid” Wyneger. I remember that we lost that game to the A’s but I was hooked. Baseball has a wonderful history and reading stories about it’s past is truly a joy. Being a baseball fan helped me learn to read, I couldn’t wait to get the paper each morning as a child and read about the Twins and other teams that I liked. Baseball helped me learn about math by trying to figure out players averages and teams winning percentages. But above all of that it made me have a great relationship with my dad, we would talk about baseball for hours. As a child we would go up north to the cabin in Hinckley and he would take me to Hinckley Knights (town team ball) games. I live in Hinckley now and when I attend Knights games it brings into perspective how wonderful the game is. Thank You.
My Uncle gave me an autographed baseball from the ‘33 World Series. Some of the names on it were: Mel Ott, John J McGraw, Lefty O’Doul, Blondy Ryan, Carl Hubbell and others - oh - Babe Ruth, too! In ‘74(?) the Twins played the Braves in an exhibition game (Howard never replied with the exact date?). I got Aaron to sign that ball by jumping into the Twins dugout after the game, while not quite knowing where I was headed. After coming out of the clubhouse, Hank graciously signed the ball and said, “I’m honored.” That was a magic moment under the old Met! Hank Aaron went on to break Ruth’s record early that season.
My first memory of baseball is hearing Herb Carneal pronounce the name Gaetti and wondering how the heck that was spelled! I thought it was such a cool name. I’ve been a Twins fan ever since.
I don’t think it was ONE thing, but here are the things I remember:
Camera day, asking Lyman Bostock if he was going to stay with the Twins or not when he became a FA, and him answering me of all the 100 kids around him and saying he hoped so.
Jerry Koosman striking out some number in the teens, the day I had been cut from a HS team.
Collecting and trading baseball cards with my friends and even my enemies in school.
It was 1965 and the First Graders at Page Elementary School got to watch the first inning of the Twins-LA World Series on a small black and white TV, while the Sixth Graders got to see the final innings. I’ll never forget walking home after game Seven and asking the Patrol who won. “Dodgers,” he told me. I didn’t believe him.
I moved to Michigan in 2nd grade, rooted for the Wolverines and Lions. But the Twins have always been my passion. From Battey to Bostock (not to mention Braun, Brye and Brunansky) I have rarely spent a day in 44 years without a Twins boxscore.
I’ve defended Rob Wilfong (great bunter), mourned Lyman Bostock and seen the greatness of George Mitterwald.
1987 and 1991 were treats beyond my wildest expectations. I’ve rooted for the Twins in Tiger Stadium, Oakland, Kansas City, ATT Park, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Yankee Stadium, and ComiskeyI now live in DC, cheer them on at Camden Yards and get to read my Minneapolis sports page daily (when are they coming to Nats stadium?!)
I just turned 50 and the Twins have been a big part of it. Any day that the Twins win is a good day.
Justin the Royals were good about 25 years ago when Bret Saberhangen and friends won the world series Royals cycle is just 5 years longer then the Twin’s!
I can remember listening to the Twins with my transistor radio underneath my pillow at night in the late 1960’s.(6-7 yrs. old) Harmon, Tony O, Jim Kaat, etc. I have been hooked and been a baseball player and fan ever since. I love the mental aspects of the game. It is like a chess match. You have to be thinking two to threes steps ahead of your opponent. Now my son plays and I cheer and keep book for his H.S. team. It is the best game going.
I went to my first Twins game in 1985. That was the year we hosted the all-star game and the dome was considered a cutting edge stadium design. Ha what a joke! 1987 was the first year I really followed the team, I was 7 years old. I still remember sleeping over at my friend’s house and watching Gladden’s grand slam in game 1. The Twins actually had a better team in 1988, but the steroid brothers kept us out of the playoffs. In the wild card format I believe we could have repeated. 1991 cemented me as a Twins fan for life. Puckett’s incredible catch and home run in game 6, Harper’s handstand after holding onto the ball, Hrbek lifting Gant off 1st base (I can admit this now) and of course Morris’s 10 inning complete game shutout in game 7. I was fortunate enough to go to the game with my brother. We even made it onto the world series highlight tape for a few seconds!
And now with the M&M brothers, a young pitching staff, and a new stadium, the future is looking bright indeed!
I owe my baseball fandom to my grandparents. When I was a youngster, my parents went through a difficult divorce and I often sought my grandparent’s residence as my personal retreat. My grandpa, a school principal, would spend his summers watching the Cubs on WGN (this was in the late 1980s). Then we would watch the Twins games at night.
For whatever reason, tradition and all, I was a lot more fond of American League baseball. I would actually fall asleep during the Cubs games. Maybe it’s because they didn’t have Kirby Puckett.
In 1988, I became a bonkers Twins fan. I didn’t really understand what was going on in 1987 (other than the World Championship), but the next season I was hooked and have been ever since.
This includes those dreary years in the 1990s. I was one of those fans who would watch throughout the summer even as the Twins had no shot at making the playoffs. Such is the culture of a baseball fan.
1993-1999 is what makes me particularly fond of the Ron Gardenhire era. Gardy took a corps group of talented young players which was put together by T.K. and turned them into division champs 4 of his first 5 seasons as manager. This is why I think calls for Gardy to be fired should not be considered right now.
As most of you know, being a Twins fan is for life and it provides a great escape from life for 6 months out of the year.
1988
My youth was spent with my Twins cap on my head, and my Wilson Ernie Banks autograph glove on my hand. Whenever they were available, one mom was designated to buy the cheap “Knothole Gang” tickets in the left field bleachers at the Met, pile the neighborhood kids in the station wagon, and give the rest of the moms a break. Playing baseball started with park board kids baseball at Lions Club Park in Golden Valley, which we could all just ride our bikes to. Whenever we visited, it seemed that my grandpa Otto always had the Twins and one ear on the radio. Baseball was just built into the culture, it seemed.
I became a baseball fan because my family was very much into baseball in the early 80’s. Being from Wisconsin, that mean being a Brewers fan-which back in the early 80’s was a pretty good thing. I even remember having a 1982 AL Champions white Brewers batting helmet (the fake ones you buy for kids). I also have a picture of me in a Brewers cap and t-shirt standing next to Robin Yount at photo night at old County Stadium.
However in 1987 I watched the Twins win the World Series and from that time forward I was a loyal Twins fan.
Now I have gotten my soon to be wife from Chicago to be a Twins fan as well.
I’ve always liked the Twins since I was a kid. Using baseball-reference I believe the first game(s) I attended were a doubleheader at the Met against the Texas Rangers on 7/6/75. It appears that I saw Bert Blyleven pitch at my first game (the twins lost both games by the way - we left during the 2nd one). I LOVED Rod Carew and was really bummed when he left for the Angels. My love for the Twins obviously increased once i got older and 87 and particularly 91 really cemented it. But things had grown fallow during the lean years of the late 90’s and early 00’s. It was the ALDS series against Oakland in 03 that really got me interested again. And then the late great Bat Girl helped turn that interest into the current obsession it is today. Can’t wait for my son to finally enjoy outdoor baseball next year. Hopefully he’ll find a love of the game as well.
my grandfather, Kirby Puckett, and the 1990 Metrodome church bus trip.
This led to a certain 9 year old staying up way too late and waking the entire family with my screaming and jumping around after Puck went yard to end Game 6 in 1991.
I was 9 years old in 1964 sitting out in the boat with my grand father fishing at Cedar Lake. The ball game was on a poratable radio. The Twins were playing the Indians and I was hooked ever since. Next year we won the pennant and were good for a few years after that. baseball is without question my favorite sport and the Twins will always be my team. I’m always that kid in the boat when I hear a ballgame. 45 years and counting.
I was a fan as a kid and lost interest as a teenager. The summer between my Jr and Sr years of college (1982), I stayed in Mankato to take a couple of classes and work. I was sharing a 2 bedroom apartment with 3 other guys and we were all basicly broke. So, just about every nigh we scraped togther enough money to buy some beer and sat down to watch the Twins lose. That was the Year that Hrbek, Viola, Brunansky, G-man and the rest of the crew first came up to the majors. They were young, inexperinced and a lot of fun to watch. I have been hooked on the Twins ever since
i fell in love with baseball 1987, during the world series. i was eleven, and had never been exposed to the sport until then. watching the twins win was amazing, and i spent much of the following winter and spring watching the world series highlight video. by the 1988 season, i’d immersed myself in baseball cards, twins apparel, “who’s who in baseball,” actual stirrups, a kent hrbek starting lineup figurine, and pretty much anything else you can imagine.
i’ve been rabid and passionate about baseball and the twins ever since then– from the highs of the 1991 series to the lows of, well, the team from 1993 through 2002. i cried when kirby died. i wrote my senior econ project on the impact of salaries on the economics of baseball. i laughed when butch huskey knocked himself out when running blindly into the left-field wall at the dome chasing a fly ball.
with a house and family, i clearly can’t spend as much time with baseball as i’d like. (well, save for fantasy baseball prep, when it occupies a little *too* much time.) but it’ll always be a love of mine.
Oh yeah, my dad also shopped at Johhy Blanchard’s ;iquor store in the Golden Valley Shopping Center. I always thought the autographed baseball pictures everywhere were cool, along with the possibility of seeing a real major leaguer if Johnny was in the store, and he often was. I kept hoping for a Twin, though. Johnny Blanchard’s used to have a flagpole. They would fly a black flag that read “Twins Lost” after each loss and a white one with “Thins Won” after a win. Like I said, it seemed like baseball was everywhere.
Growing up at the other side of the pond, I had somewhat academic interest of baseball as a kid. Not much TV coverage over there, just some sporadic occasional videos. Played a bit in high school but the competition level was probably worse than little league. Came to this side of the pond for college in the early 80s and, again, I was fairly unaffiliated with a particular team but I watched as much as I could (esp. WGN and TBS back then and the occasional NBC -I think- weekend cames) and I had favorite players (Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawbery, Mike Schmidt, Ron Cey et. al.) and not particular teams. That all ended in ‘85 when I watched a heavyset stout man having four hits in a game, running the bases as a maniac and jumping over the fences to rob opponents from home runs. Moved to Minneapolis in ‘86 and the rest is history…
Well sure I know the Royals had their little decade stretch from the mid 70’s to the mid 80’s but thats about it. The Twins have had a lot of success since then and had a lot before that. Just pointing out that other fans got it worse. The Pirates suck a lot too. They working on their what 15th straight losing season?
In the early part of 1987. So, like Blake, my timing was great. I recall going to a Sunday afternoon game late in the season, September I think, in which Lefty Carlton was starting against the Brewers Teddy Higuera. We were along the left field foul line right in front of the Twins pen. So I got to watch Lefty warm up. Also got to watch Jeff Reardon too. He had that iron ball he always carried and used to stretch out his arm. I remember it like it was yesterday and have been a big fan ever since. I too attended some of those games in the mid-90s, when we had Scott Stahoviak and Marty Cordova and Chuckie, while I was on leave from the Navy. Be sitting around the folks’ house and get a wild hair to go see the early afternoon game. Could get good seats and on the 1st baseline and hear people talking to each other up in the homerun porch. Not bad, really.
Tommy John should be in the HOF based on his numbers and his effect on the game through “his” surgery. Long after he is gone he will not be forgotten because pitchers will always be getting the TJ surgery.
I grew up in MN (47 years now) and was equally a Twins and Vikings fan growing up. In the 80’s and 90’s my passion for the Twins went up of course as the team became very competitive. At the same time, my interest in the Vikings and the NFL has gone down so low that I actually hate them. Bad characters, vioelnt people, committing many heinous crimes, plus a sport that virtually invented the steroid problem, a sport that leaves many players crippled and average life expectancy in the 50’s, etc, etc. I’m not saying MLB are choir boys, there is the steroid issue and a few dark characters, but far less than the low-lifers in the NFL. I do like the way the Twins run a ball club and promote the right character issue. Gardy doesn’t put up with crap and they for the most part play well fundamentally without the prima donnas. AND, the Twins have had the most competitive team and most playoff appearnaces of any professional MN team over the past 10 years. I hope the Twins continue to do well and the Vikes leave town ~
Pro from Dover… nope, never went to ALHS. After dad gave up teaching and coaching in ‘69, we moved to Iowa. I graduated from Webster City (IA) HS in ‘74.
We were probably at a few of the same ballgames during the 60s, though, if you typically went to John Marshall baseball, basketball or football games… we pretty much made all the road trips in those sports.
I grew up in WI as a huge Brewers fan. I moved to MN after graduating college in 2004. I work in collegiate athletics and work with various sport teams but baseball will always be my favorite. Once I moved to MN and couldn’t really watch the Brewers, I started going to Twins games. Now I cheer for the Twins except when they play the Brewers.
Beck -
Kirby Puckett is your grandfather? I guess Kirby Jr. kinda takes after the old man.
I have been a life-long Twins fan. My parents were baseball fans. My earliest recollection of baseball on the radio was Sunday afternoons, watching my mom write letters to her sisters and having the Twins game on the radio, listening to the fab Halsey Hall and Herb Carneal (no one is better than those two on the radio!). I also travel to St. Louis and watch baseball the way God intended for it to be played — OUTDOORS! I have disliked the Dome from the start. Think of the money that could have been saved to revamp the old Met and kept baseball outdoors. Whatever; water under the bridge. Now we’ll have a new, beautiful OUTDOOR stadium, walking distance from my job, and I can hardly stand it!
I started following the Twins around 1967. I listened to them on my portable radio. I had to be careful to turn off the radio before going to sleep. Big thrills included getting to go to bat days. I remember getting to see Rich Reese hit a grand slam.
When I was little, I was a Twins fan because my dad was. The only radio he owned that would pick up ‘CCO decently was the one in his pickup, so a couple times a week during the summer, he would take me to Dairy Queen just so we could listen to the games. He also firmly believed that every child over 12 needed to know how to complete a baseball scorecard, so he specifically took me to a few games at the Met that summer to teach me.
In my young adulthood, I strayed from the team and the game, with brief check-ins in ‘87 and ‘91, mostly because the important people in my life didn’t share my dad’s passion. However, it wasn’t completely gone, just kind of stored away like a favorite childhood blanket. Then, three separate events converged to bring me back for good:
First, my son became old enough to play youth baseball. I would turn on the games to demonstrate fundamentals such as which way to run the basepaths, how to catch a fly ball, and how not everyone runs after a ball that’s been hit. And watching those games reminded me how fun it was.
Then 9-11 happened, and in the fear and confusion that followed, baseball soothed my soul. It was the first, and sometimes the only, thing that reminded me that “normal” would come again.
And finally, the threat of contraction tore out my heart. I made a secret vow that if I ever got to watch another Twins game, I would be a better fan. And I have been.
I became a baseball fan through my mom - she absolutely LOVED baseball and before we settled back in MN when I was 4, she would follow the Twins, even when we lived right by the “8th wonder of the world”, the Astrodome. I went to my first Twins game at the tender age of 8 as part of the Knothole Gang in the left field bleachers of Metropolitan Stadium against the new kids on the block, the Kansas City Royals. During that game, even though I was young, I understood the game and knew that it was something special when Rod Carew stole home, one of seven times he would do it that season. From then on, whether when I lived in MN, in the service, back in MN for two years 95-97, and now here in NY, the Twins will always have a place in my heart. Sure we have the Yankee$ here and the Mets always find a way to blow a lead, but whether you are talking about Carew, Puckett, Hrbek, Knoblach, Koskie, Radke, Santana, Hunter, Mauer, Morneau,….. doesn’t matter. Loved growing up in the left filed bleachers at the Met, suffered through two bouts in the Dome (82-86, then joined the Navy. Was in the service for both championships, returned in 95 as noted above) and now am limited to one or two games a year at Yankee Stadium, but the Minnesota Twins will always be my favorite sports franchise.
I didn’t start to appreciate baseball until my sons started playing it in the mid-90’s. I used to think it was boring and slow, and I never failed to go to the bathroom (and always a long bathroom line of course) and miss the only action during a pitchers duel! But once I realized I was going to be spending a lot of time at ball fields, I decided to learn the game. Still learning, and have never looked back. I love the Twins - small market team, always competitive, lots of great players, coaches, good owners and many fun game-time memories. I’ll be at the game tonight - GO TWINS!
As my mom likes to say, she would put sports on for me instead of cartoons when I was a kid. I guess my love for sports was before I can even remember.
I became a Twins fan because my mother was from Minnesota and my father was from South Dakota. Living in Nebraska and then Colorado it was hard to follow them a lot. However, I always looked at the box scores and watched them when they were on TV. Visiting family was always great because it meant I could watch the Twins on TV!
Good one, Brimmer! Also, I think trish learned to dance cuz her Grandpa was a little wild throwing batting practice to her, lol!
My first game at the Met Harmon Killebrew hit a home run over my head in the left field bleachers, how could you not love baseball after that. It was this game:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN197407300.shtml
I high school we would drive to the met and sneak in through the fence or pay the ticket taker a couple of bucks to let us in. Fun times.
Watched the Senators beat the Yanks 4-3 in ‘55 at old Griffith when Ramos picked Mantle off second, and then followed Killer and Allison to Minnesota when they moved. For all their foibles, the Twins have figured out how to play the game (mostly) right.
Prior to the Senators moving to Minnesota and becoming the Twins, I could not have told you the difference between a homerun and a touchdown. But my older brothers were all excited about Minnesota getting a ML team and their enthusiasm was contagious. I remember getting out of school early in Minneapolis so that we could go home to watch the opening game of 1961 on TV. I think Pedro Ramos actually beat the Yankees.
I started watching and listening and learning…and loving baseball. The first game I attended at the Met was with my dad and against the brand new L.A. Angels. Ted Klusewski played for them and was getting a lot of grief from the fans. I joined in–even though I didn’t know too much. My 10-year old voice must have stood out at one point because he turned around from the batter’s circle and glared in my direction (we were just to the left of home plate in the second deck). I shrunk back in my seat.
The Twins pounded the Angels. I seem to recall that Dan Dobbek homered, and I think Allison did, too. I asked my dad if we could stay for the bottom of the ninth even though the Twins were winning. He patiently explained that they would not bat again if they were still winning. Anyway, by the end of that summer, I was pretty close to a walking baseball encyclopedia.
I went to games whenever my dad or brothers invited me to go. Went to opening day in 1962 with temperatures in the 30s, but the game warmed me up.
I moved from Minnesota in November of 1963–to Massachusetts. But I remained a die-hard Twins fan. I’d visit family back in Minneapolis in the summers and get to as many games as I could. Oddly, I didn’t make it here in 1965, but I saw the Twins drub the Red Sox 12-1 in Boston one July day that year. I was at the Met for a fateful game in 1967 when the Twins beat the White Sox and took over first place for the first time. And I endured the taunts of my classmates the day after they lost the last two games of the season to the Red Sox that year and conceded the pennant.
I’ve lived in many, many places during my career but always remained a Twins fan. When I got a job in Duluth in 2001, I finally came back to my home state after 38 years. I manage to get to a few games every year on a modest civil servant salary and even got to see the ALDS playoff games in 2002 and 2006 (1 victory out of 4 games). And we have tickets for the last Metrodome game on October 4 this year.
I sure hope that it is possible to get single game tickets for Target Field. Can’t wait to see them outdoors again.
I born in ‘59 so I grew up listening to the Twins on the radio on the way to the cabin when playing in the yard and when ever we traveled as a family in the car I loved listening to the Twins, even now more than ever it reminds me of when I was young and life was good. Tony O and Rod Carew. who could not have loved baseball.
I have no idea. I think I’ve always been a Twins fan. I think I just grew up watching them on TV with my dad in Bismarck, ND on MSC. I watched tons of games in the early 90’s with my dad and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I probably had no idea they sucked so bad in the Mid 90’s but enjoyed watching them every night.
I became a Twins fan around 7 years old. My dad introduced me to Twins baseball by listening on the radio while milking cows and doing field work on the tractor (yes, I was driving tractor & doing chores at 7 years old!). I would listen to John Gordon and Herb Carneal call the games.
My dad used to tell me stories of how great the Twins were in the 60’s: Oliva, Killabrew, Carew, Kaat. Of course, I thought Puckett was the greatest. I’d pretend I was them in the backyard and through little league growing up. If we got lucky, and got reception from the antenna, we got to watch games on TV on KMSP-9.
I continued to listen to Twins games on the radio while growing up on the farm. I definitely miss those days…farming and Twins baseball!
I played junior college ball and got to play an exhibition game at the dome the first year it opened. If you think the turf is hard there now, you wouldn’t have believed it back then. I dribbled a baseball off the turf all the way out to left field once. The lights in the left fielder’s eyes were/still are absolutely terrible. I’m glad the Twins are moving outside next year, but perhaps the biggest mistake in our state’s sports facilities history was not making the new stadium with at least the capability to add a roof later on. Unbelievable -
my earliest twins memories include bringing home baseball cards in the early ’60s before i could read the names (no, i wasn’t in my teens; yes, i still have the cards) … sitting on the front steps with two gloves and waiting for dad to come home at lunchtime to play catch … taking the 200-mile trip to met stadium to see harmon launch an upper deck shot circa 1963 or ‘64 (although tony o was my favorite — dad even taught me to bat from the left side, which i do to this day in a 35-and-over league that includes a sprinkling of former minor and major leaguers).
i also remember listening to countless twins games on the radio all through the ’60s (halsey and herb) while relentlessly throwing a rubber ball against the patio wall (the folks tolerated year after year of ker-thump, ker-thump, ker-thump — because, after all, it was related to baseball).
when dad came up with two tickets to game two in ‘65 — he took mom (she loved baseball, too, and especially dick stigman for some reason). but i attended all four home games against the cardinals in ‘87 and the last two against the braves in ‘91 (some of the most intensely euphoric feelings i’ve ever felt).
anyone remember those megaphones that popcorn came in at the met? i remember waiting in the parking lot as the players came out and getting my megaphone autographed (and recall how friendly most of the players were).
I grew up on a dairy farm outside of St. Cloud. My dad always had the radio on, listening to ‘CCO. I spent my teenage summers in the barn listening to the games. After much persuasion, we went to one of the Meet-the-Players games where you walked around on the field and just walked up to the players and asked for autographs and pictures. I still have my picture of me, in my braces, next to Rick Scofield. I’ll never forget that day! I’ve always stuck by “my” boys — through the dry times and the high times.
Howard:
Great idea for a column. I was afraid that I would be the oldest one here–but I am too young for the country slaughter play.
My first game was at Ebbets Field in 56 or 57–it was against the Cincy Reds. What I remember most were the uniforms–they had what BatGirl calls pixie vests and you could see the muscles on Big Klu at 1B–where I sat. I started out as a Dodger fan maybe cause they won the series in 55–when I was 7. That lasted till the SOB OMalley…
Then I became a Mets fans in 62 and went to a ton of games at Shea. I moved to MD in 1977–the Mets traded Seaver the same day–and became an Os fan. That lasted till the SOB Angelos.
Looking for another team–I stumbled on a Twins broadcast on MLB extra innings in 2002 and loved Bert and Dick. I saw the Twins played the game the right way and just adapted them–even making it out to the dome once.
DAM
My husband passed away in the spring of 2001. I started watching the Twins because I didn’t know what to do with myself and the boys turned me into a die-hard fan.
“but perhaps the biggest mistake in our state’s sports facilities history was not making the new stadium with at least the capability to add a roof later on.”
totally agree. go to safeco in seattle and watch that roof cover the field and it just seems so, well, major league.
I grew up in S. Nebraska as a die-hard Yankee fan. I went to school in SD and subsequently moved to Sioux Falls - where the only games on the radio were the Twins. Decided to go with the Twins in 1977 and have been with them since then.
You might say I’m a “reformed” Mets fan. I came to baseball during the heady days in 1969 when the Miracle Mets won the World Series. My first live game was in of all places Chicago at Wrigley Field. I was at Northwestern for a summer program and one of our trips took us to a place were they made lightning arresters for powerlines and then to Wrigley for a game between the Cubs and the Reds. I remember if vividly because it was 1977 and the Mets had just traded Tom Seaver to the Reds. And even better Seaver was scheduled to pitch that day for the Reds. The thing about that game that shows how much the game has changed in 30 years was that all of the pitchers on both sides were used, except Seaver. You see he was held out because of the flu. I don’t remember who started for Chicago or Cincinnati. I just remember that the Cubs won in extra innings (13 I think) by one run (16-15 or 15-14 maybe) and the winning pitcher for Chicago was Rick Reuschel. Who pitched the last inning or maybe two. What was even better it was his second win in as many days. He started and won the previous days game.
I came to the Twin Cities in 1986 and watched the Mets win the World Series from here. The next year I hopped on the Twins bandwagon and haven’t gotten off. (Although I was “in exile” for a couple of years when I couldn’t keep up with much that is baseball.)
What born and raised Twins fans need to realize is that at their worst the Twins were still better than the Mets of the late 70’s. 
My interest began through the 87 and 91 World Series wins, but faded dramatically in the 90’s doldrums. As I moved away from the state, it was Bat Girl that drew me back into the wonderful world of Twins-dome.
Oh how we miss you Bat Girl. Come back to us with your snarky comments…
I’m 22 years old and I honestly started following the Twins sometime in 2001 or 2002. I had been mostly a Vikings fan in the late 90’s and still am today. Ever since 2001 when the Twins had their first winning season in 9 years, I have progressively become a bigger Twins fan (and baseball in general) each year. Some might call me a fair-weather fan, but I just wasn’t interested in baseball at all in the 90’s. Now that I’m a huge Twins fan, I will follow them through thick and thin. Go Twins!
I was a Twins fan when I was real little because when you are a t-ball playing 5 year old, your choices are relatively limited. The Twins were my favorites until about 93 (when I was 9), when I became a big fan of Frank Thomas. I wasn’t really a fan of any team at that point, just him. Played ball and watched as much as I could on WGN and TBS. Not much Twins, though, because there was nobody I liked.
Then I didn’t really watch much baseball at all for a couple years. Got back into the Twins around 2000 and have been a Twins fan and a Twins fan only ever since.
I’m probably one of the few current Twins fans that made the transition with the Senators.
It is interesting to read how many got their start LISTENING to their radio’s/transistor’s (what’s that?).
Both my father & grandfather were HUGE Senator fans, and my Grandfather was what passed in the 1950’s as a “sports fanatic”. I remember as a youngster, we would visit my PaPa in the fall (Sept I guess). He lived in Damascus MD (midway between Washington & Baltimore) near Walter Johnson, who had a farm a few miles away. On Sunday’s, PaPa would have 2 radio’s and 2 TV’s on, 1 tuned to the Senator’s, 1 to the Orioles, 1 to the Redskins and the final one to the Colts. Odd thing is the “old coot” could tell you exactly what was going on in each and every game. ALL he ever talked about was 1930’s & 1940’s baseball and the Wild West
I just checked baseball-reference, because I was sure my 1st game was in 1957, a double-header with the Yankees at old Griffith Stadium. I seem to remember that the Senators lost the DH, which did not happen in 1957, but did in 1958. My dad and uncle took me to the games, and the highlight…a foul ball was hit in our direction, everyone jumped up to try to catch it. My dad sat still and the ball fell into his lap.
My dad’s 1st Senators game was July 4, 1936 another DH loss to the NY Yankees, maybe this runs in the family.
It was sort of serendipity that our family made the junction from Senators to Twins, but at the same time the Senators became the Twins, my dad, a minister, and family moved to Texas. At the time, the closest baseball teams were KC & St. Louis, SO as a brilliant 9 year old, since I couldn’t see them play (NO TV) or listen on the radio, I decided to keep the team I knew, rather than choose a new one.
My brothers and I, give my dad the MLB cable package each year, and he watches frequently. He’s going strong with over 75 years of continuously following the Senators/Twins. Every conversation I have with him starts with “What’s new with the Twins”.
Regards,
I was a huge St Louis Cardinal Fan until the Senators moved to the Twin Cities. I switched allegence as soon as the twins became a reality.
I still follow the Cardinals also, but as in 1987 i take the Twins over the cardinals everytime Go Twins!
I was born in 1980 in Minneapolis, but I don’t think I was really passionate about the Twins until they Bud Selig and even Carl Pohlad discussed the idea of contracting the Twins and Expos out the league. ESPN was doing mock dispersals drafts of where the current Twins players were going. They were going to get rid of virtually the only team in the state that has ever won anything…I was a real bitter college student, and still hate Bud Selig to this day.
I played baseball because my dad had played when he was younger, so I was a baseball fan first. The Twins came to Minnesota when I was 9 years old and I became a Twins fan immediately. I like so many others listened on WCCO every chance I got and listened on a transistor radio until late into the night. I remember a few things about my first Twins game at the Met, like that the day was cloudy and cool and late in the season. I remember that Camilo Pascual pitched for the Twins.
I was lucky enough to have my Dad take me to Game 6 of the ‘65 World Series ( I still have the program) and I was able to return the favor and take my Dad to Game 2 of the 1991 World Series.
My dad always had the games on the radio when I was a kid, and I started following them when was 13. To say that the game has changed would be a huge understatement! The year was 1979, the Twins had Jerry Koosman, Roy Smalley, John Castino was a rookie. Starting pitchers job was to go as long and hard as they could. The “closer” was Mike Marshall, and he routinely pitched two or more innings at a time. This was long before ESPN, so they got no love what so ever from the national media, even though they got off to a 21 and 7 start that year. The complaint then was the same as it has been the last couple of years…no power hitters. All the power hitters they had in the mid 80’s proved not to help much, but thats a different subjuct. Thanks for letting us respond.
It was the Hamm’s beer commercials from the mid 60s, The ones with the cartoon bear. When I was a kid I used to like those and would turn on the game to watch the Hamm’s bear. Somewhere along the way I became a big Twins fan, although not so much of a beer drinker.
I still kinda miss the Hamm’s bear, but TC does pretty well I guess.
I grew up in Southern Mn in the late 60’s early 70’s and we would go to a couple of Twins games per year. It seemed like they were always against the Orioles or A’s. It was fun watching Tony Oliva and Rod Carew. In 1982 me and a buddy from High School went to our first dome game. We bought tickets outside the dome but couldn’t figure out how to get in. We saw Calvin Griffith walking down the sidewalk and asked him for directions. He told us how to get in the place, and thanked us for buying tickets.
I have memories of going to a twi-night doubleheader at the old Met in the late 70’s. The earliest memory I have is as a child keeping score of the 1979 All Star Game in Seattle and watching Dave Parker throw a frozen rope from the right field wall to home plate on the fly. Coolest thing I ever saw. My Twins fandom has ebbed and flowed, but the love of the game has been constant. Watching ungodly numbers of games as a youth the NBC Game of the Week, Monday Night Baseball and countless random games on WGN, TBS and ESPN. The 2 World Series titles brought me back to the Twins fold for good. I can still turn on any game and get wrapped up in it no matter who is playing. I can’t say the same for hockey or football, has to be the hometown squad to pique my interest most of the time.
I was born in Minnesota, and lived in a suburb during the 87 series run that wasn’t open to minorities like my family. I was not able to play on the best local baseball teams because of my religion, however I was able to be comforted by the Twins and their spirited play. It made me proud to be born in Minnesota — while at the same time hating Minnesota’s legendary religion-based segregation with a passion.
The first game I remember was in 1970 in Met Stadium. We drove up from Iowa and the things that stand out in my mind are the TCF tree in the outfield, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Bert Blyleven, Tony Oliva and getting a souvenir small bat and autographed baseball, (neither of which I have now). The game didn’t stand out to me as a 7 year old but the experience will last a lifetime and I am and will always be a lifelong Twins fan.
When I was dating my wife in 1986, I told her that she didn’t need to be worried about be being glued to the TV or radio during baseball season because I was a Twins fan. She was a little upset at me in 1987. Now my 17 year old son and I sit at the computer and “watch” games on MLB.com
Went to my first game on Auguest 24, 1975. Jim Hughes was the Twin’s starting starting pitcher. We beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 and I was in the left-center field stands at the Met. I was 11 years old. I remember Ron LeFlore was in center field, and was a couple years removed from prison. The other kids in the stands were heckling him and calling him “LeFart”, which I thought was kind of mean. My passion from baseball came from my Mom, who was a big Twins fan. I remember asking her what an RBI was. She got her passion from her Dad, my Grandpa. She explained how he would listen to every game and keep score. So I bought a score book was soon keeping score of every game as well, listening to Frank Quilici and Herb Carneal on ‘CCO. I got really hooked on the stats and would recalculate batting averages with every at bat. I was in the Air Force stationed hin Germany when we won the WS in ‘87. Watched the games live on the Armed Forces Network at 2 or 3 in the morning. When my Grandpa died several years ago, my Mom gave me his old scorebooks from when he kept score during the 1960’s. Sounds kind of hoakie, but the Twins are part of my soul. Always will be.
I was born into a Twins fanatics family.
Growing up in the early 60’s, my mom listened to or watch all the games and still does to this day. We went to many games at Met stadium. My grandmother listened to every game with the radio on a rolling cart next to her rocking chair AND she kept score of every game.
She made her own scorecard for each game with a pencil and a ruler and kept track just like if you were at the game. She taught me how to do this and I would keep score whenever we attended a game in person. I was living in California in 1987 and cried when the first AND only professional Minnesota team won a world championship.
I became a Twins fan as soon as I was aware of them, probably in 1962 at the age of eight. One of the first things to grab my attention was baseball cards on the back of cereal boxes. Living 350 miles away, my only connection to games was Herb Carneal, Halsey Hall, and Ray Scott on Roseau, MN radio station, KRWB. I finally attended my first game in Sept. of 1965.
I became a Twins fan when I was about 6 years old. I remember listening to Herb Carnel in the early 1970’s. I was and still am a huge fan of Rod Carew (because we were born on the Oct 1st). I would copy his stance, only from the right hand side and wanted to play second base the Twins. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I couldn’t very easily live in Minnesota in 1987 and not be a Twins fan. I was 9 years old and had yet to even buy my first baseball mitt when the Twins made their run. My parents were already fans, but my 4th grade teacher probably had an even greater role, since she actually put on the TV during day games so we could watch. Anybody who was at least partially responsible for interrupting my education as a child was automatically the greatest thing in the world, and so began my obsession.
Very interesting stories. Mine is a little different in the sense that I had no experience in baseball as a kid. I was born in Argentina, where everything is soccer, soccer and a little bit more soccer, and then the rest of the sports. Of course I was a soccer fan and I am still. But when we first came to Minnesota in 86 I watched the Twins win the 87 World Series and fell in love with the team. One thing Argentinian fans have is loyalty, (down there it is really bad considered if you change team, you are a “sold man”) So I stayed a Twins fan since, and I actually learned the game from watching, and still learning. Actually, my kids taught me how to hold a bat, while I was teaching them how to kick a soccer ball.
Like many others, I grew up with ‘CCO always in the background, and that meant Twins games as a constant part of every summer. My father took me to my first game when I was 5 years old in 1963, and to this day very few things look as perfect to me as the field did when I first walked out of the tunnel into the stands at the old Met. I played, watched, and/or coached baseball my whole life, have always loved the sport, and still think it’s design is just about perfect. 90 feet from home to first was perfect 100 years ago, it’ll be perfect 100 years from now.
I grew up in MN with die-hard Cubs fans in my family, so we watched a lot of games on WGN and I learned all about baseball. I became a Twins fan when I was about 10 or 11, because I realized I was a Minnesotan and the home team needed me. My first game was at the Met in the late 70s when Rod Carew was batting about .400 and I got a #29 Carew T-shirt as a promotion. I also remember going to a doubleheader or two as well before they moved to the Metrodump in 82. I’ve been following them ever since and became a partial-season ticket holder in 2005.
I was 2 years old in 1987. My dad and his best friend went downtown to a bar across the street from the dome to watch game 7. In the bar, an old lady gave two tickets to this guy with his little kid. My dad was so mad that he and Arn had come down without me! I went to games off and on, always in the cheap seats when we could afford it, throughout my childhood. When we moved to Nebraska during junior high, we were able to watch whenever they played the Royals on FSN Midwest and we traveled to see them play the in KC once a summer. We went to a summer game at the dome once in awhile, when we could swing it. It was a much longer trip to the lake through the cities! However, now that I am in grad school, I have been getting to a couple games in KC a summer and a few in the cities as well. I am planning on at least one trip this summer to KC and one or more to the last season in the dome. In one year, I will move back to the area and am excited to be back! I continue to watch games whenever possible, listen on the radio and watch on mlb.tv. Through the good and the bad, I’m a Twins fan, through and through!
I was a little kid in the 1950’s when my dad took me to miller baseball games out a the old met and when the twins moved here in 1961 it sealed the deal and i was hopelessly hooked on baseball from that point on.
I have always been a baseball and twins fan, but i really fell in love with both during the 91 season. I had grown up in Minnesota, but when in 1991 when I was ten we moved to TN for a few years. Naturally, all my friends their were Braves fans, so the World Series victory was especially sweet for me. The morning after game 7 all my friends refused to speak to me. After a few days they calmed down and we were back on good terms, that was until I broke out my Jack Morris Halloween costume!! Some never spoke to me again..
Joe R from swmn now in Omaha: I was stunned when I saw your remarks, because I’m also a Joe R. from Southwestern Minnesota and live in Omaha. Jeez, that’s weird.
I became a twins fan at the age of 4 in 1964. My grandpa was a huge sports fan and brought me and my cousin to our first Twins game. From the days of standing under the left field bleachers talking to Bob Allison and others to the Dome, I have been a Twins fan. I fondly remember as a kid, going up to the seat at the Met where Harmon hit the monstrous home run. I have seen great pitchers like Kaat, Tiant, Blyleven (as a rookie!), Perry, Erickson, Viola, Santana, etc. I also have great memories of seeing others like Jackson (with the A’s), Winfield (with the Angels), Fidrich, Clemens,Ripken, Ryan, and others. My wife and I dated in 1987 and went to probably 2/3 of the home games that year. We began bringing our kids to Twins games in the lean years of the 90’s and I’ve taught them how to keep score from an early age. My favorite memories of specific games are the Santana vs. Garcia 1-0 game, with Garcia losing a 1 hitter on a Jones HR. I saw Eddie pitch his first game on a Sunday afternoon with my dad, when he came up from A. I also was at the dome when it collapsed in left field during a storm, looking like a shaking bowl of jello! So many memories of the Twins and many still to come!
My 1st memory of the Twins was being at my house watching them play in the 87 playoffs. I was 6 at the time and we had a coffee table in front of the TV. Everytime things got a little hairy I would lay on the bottom portion of the coffee table and watch from there.
My 1st game memory was on labor day weekend of 1991. I went to a game vs the Indians and the metrodome was completely packed as the Twins were in a pennant race. Shane Mack hit a grand slam and the dome almost took off like a spacechip
I first remember watching baseball when I was 7 years old, in 1987. I like to think that I am the good luck charm that pushed that team into the World Series.
The first game that I went to was in the summer of 1988 at the Dome between the Twins and the Brewers. The Twins had a 4-3 lead behind the steady start of Allan Anderson, but Jeff Reardon came on in the ninth and blew the save. The final was 5-4 Brewers.
And I consider Games 6 and 7 of the 1991 World Series to be the two greatest days of my entire childhood. The memories of my first bicycle, first kiss, and high school graduation pale in comparison.
While I was in high school in the late 90s, I stopped following the Twins for a while - not because they were bad (though they were), but because I just got too busy and had other things on my mind. The 1994 strike didn’t help either. I think I got used to not watching baseball that summer.
But one day in 2001, I realized that it was the season opener and I had nothing to do, so I grabbed a beer and watched a game. I didn’t recognize any of the players on that team, but it was fun to watch. I was a good luck charm again that year, as the Twins won 85 games for their first winning season since 1992.
I’ve been a die-hard fan ever since, even though this team makes me want to pull my hair out in frustration sometimes!
I was born in 1961, a couple months after the first Twins game in Minnesota.
Back in the 60’s and 70’s my family spent time at a lake cabin every year and on the Fourth of July all 12 or my AUnts and Uncles with their myriad of kids would join us to engage in three of Minnesota’s great pastimes eating burgers and hot dogs, swimming and playing a great big pick up game of baseball for everyone from the age of 3 to 75. If you could walk you played.
A homerun was in the lake and the dogs would retrieve them. The whole time this was going on the background was Herb and Halsey Hall going off on some tangent that might have had something to do with Baseball.
I was young but I still remember Halsey’s laugh and his unique personality.
For those who never got the pleasure of those two doing a game I wish you could sit by the lake shore with a perfect blue sky dotted with some puffy clouds with the sounds of waves lapping at your feet, hot dogs grilling and a large and loving family while Herb describes Harmon striding to the plate with a Cesar Tover on 1st.
That is when I started to love baseball.
But it keeps making me love it.
It is snarled up in the very fabric of my life. It is my uncles taking me to games at the Met and riding the bus to a double header with my Grandma.
It is picture day and being on the field with these giants named Killebrew, Allison, Kaat and Oliva.
It is beers and brats in Milwaukee on a road trip with my guys. Crabcakes at Camden in a suite on a muggy Maryland night with more friends. It is minor league parks in Duluth, Rochester, Orlando, Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids, Beloit, Clinton and yes even Parade Staduim.
It is my future wife and I sitting at Siebert drinking hot chocolate on a cold spring afternoon watching the Gophers.
It is taking my son at the age of 3 months inside the dome for his first game and watching him stare at the lights for 3 hours.
It is watching my youngest, named Harmon, stride to the tee and take a mighty swing and power the ball five feet and then run as fast as he can..to third.
That is when I loved baseball.
I probably didn’t have a choice. My Dad loved the game, and I inherited that love.
I was ten when the Twins came to town, and remember asking my Father what all this was about. Does this mean the Millers are going to be playing the Yankees?
The first Twins game I saw was a “knot hole” game our scout troop took us to. What ever happened to those. It was the pathetic K.C. Athletics. At least they had the slugging Norm Siebern.
The prize came next. The “61 Yanks were coming to town. It was Friday night, and Dad gets left field seats. What! Mantle is in center, and Maris is in right, and I am looking at Hector Lopez’s back. Calvin knew the Twins were going to hit a million fans then, and as you came into the park, they were handing out key chains, that said “Thanks a million.”
Baseball is a vacuum cleaner, that just sucks in memories.
By the way, Howard, this posting is an excellent idea.
I love reading other people’s stories as much as I did posting mine.
I remember going to the Twins games back at the Met Center - My father would buy us the cheap seats and I always remember us being in the sun with the exception of the one time when the game got rained out. My father being a stubborn German, refused to go home (we lived about 35 miles away) because he was sure the rain would stop as soon as we left. I endured that and more through the years and will always be considered a TRUE MINNESOTA TWIN FAN!!
I started really following baseball in the early 80’s and like many kids, the team that won the championship is your team. Well in 81, the Dodgers became my team. I lived and died Dodger Blue even in South Dakota. 88 was a great year. Then in the 90’s after the strike, a change in ownership, and a move to Chicago, my feeling changed towards the Dodgers and baseball in general. It wasn’t until we moved back to Minnesota in 99 that I slowly started watching the Twins. Now I can’t get enough of them. They have been such a fun team to watch during the Gardy years. I still can’t believe how much fun I had watching that 06 team.
Oh yeah, my junior year of college was Spring of 2002. The Twins had finally come to life in 2001 but lost the division in September to Cleveland. In 2002, there was a trememdous sense of optimism about the club. They easily won the division and made the playoffs in Oct of 2002, beating the Athletics. That was fall of my senior year. That is my BEST memory of watching the Twins
Good memories, Jeff. I can just hear Halsey reading off the list of groups attending the game……….inning after inning after inning! You don’t know how much I envy you rubbing elbows with Harmon, Bob, Jim and Tony O. Also, when little Harm gets older, you might want to watch him. Sometimes little guys get bored during T-Ball games and take a leak in the outfield. Don’t ask me how I know that.
I was 13 years old in 1965. The youngest of 5 children with no family interest in baseball. My dad was from Denmark and had never watched baseball and knew nothing about it. I started listening to the Twins games on radio and fell in love with Halsey Hall. And the Twins. I talked my dad into taking me to a game at the old Met and he was kind enough to oblige me. My mother, not having a clue about baseball, would listen to any games that were broadcast while I was at school. I’d come home from school and she’d have a paper filled with notes on who did what during the game. It was kind of funny because she spelled most of the names wrong and described everything in non-baseball terms. I still love Twins baseball and have been able to pass that onto my daughter. Unfortunately, after 28 years, my husband still couldn’t care less about baseball. Oh well, that’s his problem.
My first game was a doubleheader at the met that was Rod Carew’s first series back after getting traded away to the Angles. At least the baseball gods set me up right to be a Twins fan.
I fell in love with baseball in 1984 when my dad and I sat in what had to be the last row of the upper deck in left field when that great Detroit Tigers team was in town — the game had to be close to a sell out. There was hope in the air about a team that had been terrible for a while — I fell in love with that sense of hope.
Hope got me through last place finishes, injuries, trades, Willie Banks, Scott Stahoviak, Rich Becker, strikes, steroids and the Dome. We’ll get ‘em next year is the most beautiful sentiment in all of sports.
Cezar
His brother was a dirt farmer. Loved to move it around until the mass scramble for the ball. Harmon is a chatterbox who is the guy chasing every ball until it stops or someone else has it.
As far as taking a leak in the outfield it happens, thank god that there seems to be a bathroom in the Green Montster for Manny.
WCCO and Herb Carneal on the radio in the early 80’s. Fishing trips where it was on in the boat or in the car on the way home because dad was a huge fan and it made the long drive fly by. A handful of trips to the Met - must have been late 70’s because I remember Rod Carew/Larry Hisel/Gene Mauch/Cubbage/Smalley/etc….but not Tony O. Catcher Butch Wynegar signed my little league glove - I still have it but through the use of 3 kids after me there’s no sign of the blue ink any where. Somewhere I converted from primarily a Vikings fan to primarily a Twins fan - I want to say before 87 but certainly cemented in 87 and I recall watching the 91 series in the dorms at college - everyone was on the bandwagon and it was a fun time. Lost track in the 90’s - being away in the military where couldn’t get on radio or TV and ESPN paid them little attention - maybe mercifully in recalling how they fared then. But came back home in 2001 and picked them back up on WCCO and now hardly miss a game on TV or radio.
Actually it was WNAX not WCCO - 570, Yankton, SD. You could get 570 just about anywhere then, and still can now.
When I lived in Boston during the late 70, I was told a story about Harmon Killebrew hitting the flag pole above the Green Monster. I was told the story because I was from MN. When other people talked about my Home Town Team, I knew that I was proud of my Twins.
I saw my first game with my Dad at the Met in 1964. I was nine years old. I’ve been a fan of the Twins ever since. I saw the pennant winner on TV in ‘65. I remember a teacher with a transitor radio coming into my classroom and updating us on one of the scores during the Series. We moved to California in ‘66. I saw many Twins games in Anahiem over the years. I was at Pucket’s first game with my brother. I saw Carew’s 3,000 hit on a Sunday against Viola. Last season in Anahiem, in the only game I made it to, the Twins had the lead into the seventh then Crain came in with runners on. We lost. My brother got married in ‘87 and I got married in ‘91. I bet on the Twins at the beginning of the season and the money helped pay for my wedding. I get the Star Tribune online so I now get to keep up with the Twins and Vikings more frequently. Go Twins.
can you imagine how many little kids are becoming baseball fans right now because of the month joe mauer just had?
Carl Yastrzemski and I share something in common…we both made our major league debuts on April 11, 1961 at Fenway Park. He as a fledgling hall of famer, me as a 6 year-old lover of baseball.
Yaz didn’t cause me to love baseball…my Ted-Williams-adoring mother and growing up in a place that ate/slept/breathed Red Sox baseball every day of the year accomplished that.
Growing up with the voices of Curt Gowdy and Ned Martin (”Yaz on his horse…and he makes the catch! Mercy!!) at a time when everyday contact with the team came via the transistor radio created such a wonderful imaginary world around the game…something that never could be matched by football, basketball, etc.
Ironically, my fondest memory of youth involved the Twins. They were, of course, the foils for the Impossible Dream team of 1967 and on the losing end of what had to be the biggest “up” for a fan base and biggest “down” for a fan base…the final weekend of the season.
Truth be told growing up I feared the Twins more than any other team. Oh sure there were the hated Yankees, Detroit had Cash and Kaline. But nothing struck fear in me as a pre-teen then the idea of the Twins playing the Sox. I would literally clench my stomach throughout Killer’s at bat, knowing that it was going far one of these pitches. I would yell into the night “can’t we get that Carew and Olive out once? Please?” God it was great to hate the Yankees, but the Twins for me then were about fear.
I managed a few more memories as I grew…1975 in college and the Fisk home run…but then I moved to MN in 1977.
Loving baseball as much as I did it wasn’t hard to get season tickets to the team out on the Bloomington prairie and get to know the names…Smalley, Bostock, Hisle, Ford, Castino, Wynegar. They didn’t replace my Sox, but they were a real close second in my heart.
The transition to first place in my heart was completed not in 1987, but in 1984. That season (I hate you Jamie Quirk!)it was so exciting to see young talent maturing and you just knew this team had the chance to get there. The transition of power and ownership put the crown on the achievement 3 years later.
I never thought that I could be as happy as when Petrocelli squeezed the last ball against the Twins in 67. But I was wrong. 1987 was the first time a baseball team I loved won the World Series. It was like your first kiss and it felt like a new sun had been created. What a feeling.
So what started as a love affair in the greenest of ballparks on earth in 1961 continues to evolve. What makes it greater is that another 6 year old kid will hold his parent’s hand next April and get to do it all over again…outside.
Life is funny. The team that I feared the most as a child has become the team I love as an adult. Yes, life is funny.
I became a Twins fan during the summer of 1969. We had moved to Minnesota the previous year. As a 9 year old with an early bed time, I would lie in bed listening to the smooth voice of Herb Carneal tell the story of the games with Oliva, Carew, Killer, Tovar, Kaat and gang. I was hooked. I went to a few games at the old Met during my youth.
Around the time the Twins moved to the Dome, I remember being more upset about the money saving trades Calvin Griffith was making than the move indoors. Although I wasn’t excited about baseball being played inside a football stadium, I remained a fan, cheering the Twins through their World Series titles.
In the mid 90s the labor struggles put a dent in my passion. I followed the Twins, and baseball in general, half-heartedly the next few years. The Twins poor play didn’t help.
In 2001, the play of youngsters Hunter, Koskie, Mientkieowicz, Mays, etc, and the committment of Radke, resparked my passion. The following March, my wife surprised me with a Gold Glove 20 game season ticket package (Section 221), which we have had ever since.
I was a Dodgers fan because they came from Brooklyn where my uncle lived. My first memories were of the ‘59 series between the Dodgers and White Sox. Gil Hodges was my first hero because I played first base in Little League. The first pro game I saw was the Dodgers against the St Paul Saints when they were a Dodgers’ farm team. I don’t know if I saw the Twins in ‘61 but by ‘65 when I was in H.S., we went to the old Met quite a bit and sat in the bleachers. I was near where Killer’s famous hr landed, the one that beat the Yanks in the bottom of the 9th in the last game before the all star game. I was at the all-star game, too, holding a banner that said “Forever Harmon” which had been the Star’s headline following his homer.
I remember my dad taking me out to a couple games in 1986, the first time I ever saw the Metrodome and an actual game in progress, live… and variations of the game we mostly all have played before as a kid anyways in school or out in the parks with friends; but it wasn’t until 1987, that magic Fall, that I grew to love the Twins, Bruno, the G-Man, Herbie, Lombo, Gags, Frankie V, and the great Kirby Puckett, who I idolized all through my high school years. The entire season of 1991 was one great summer of fun for me, topping off with the 1991 World Series, Twins versus Braves. To this day I feel a sense of pride for being a Minnesotan that our team, in all history books, has the honor and distinction of being part of THE greatest World Series that ever was, and perhaps ever will be.
I find it interesting that most of you are so young. Guess us older guys aren’t much for blogging. I was born in 1953 and my first baseball memories are of listening on the radio, mostly to Yankees games. (It seems they dominated the airwaves even back then)My idol was Yogi and later Earl Battey. I grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis and there was a small Apt building across the street in which an old man lived by himself. I befriended him some and we flew kites together. One day he called me over to introduce me to his nephew. A gentleman by the name of Harmon Killebrew. I was in awe of course and thought I’d gone to heaven. It was short lived however because somehow the word got out and inside of 20 minutes there were 200 kids in that yard. I did get to see Harmon a couple more times until his uncle either moved or passed away, I don’t know which. Some of my fondest memories are of the few games I got to see at the Met. I can’t wait for outdoor baseball. The memories of the Killer, Allison and Mr Battey will surely come alive again.
Thanks Howard, that was fun!
My mom was born and raised in the Chicago area and she is a die-hard Cubs fan. She was born in 1945, the last year the Cubs made it to the World Series, so needless to say she hasn’t seen her team make it but that didn’t mean she stopped watching.
She moved to Minnesota and remained a die-hard Cubs fan and I remember growing up watching the Cubs with her on WGN. I even remember when they finally put lights in Wrigley to have night games and how excited we were about it.
I ended up going to two Cubs games before my first Twins game (which also happened to be against the Cubs in an exhibition game) in the late 80s. I started following the Twins in their run in 87 and 91 and slowly converted my ways to become a full fledged Twins fan ever since.
Her and I will be making the trip to Chicago once again in a few weeks to see the Cubs and Twins face each other once again. She will be wearing a Cubs jersey and I will be in a Twins jersey.
Pappysworld,
Care to elaborate on your 12:36 post?
I was born into being a twins fan. My Dad would take us to the park all the time. I have a foul ball signed by Rod Carew from when I was 3. 1987 was the best and 91 was the icing on the cake. I love that the Twinks are still a scrappy team and the M and M boys are a lot of fun to watch.
I became a fan as a boy during the 1987 season. I was instantly a fan of how that team played the game. Especially how hard and well Kirby Puckett played the game with a smile on his face. The Twins and Kirby were a very positive influence on my life. I was a vikings and lakers fan before that but to this day the twins are my favorite. I talk about them to other people with pride. My team didn’t sucomb to having a bunch of roided up power hitters. They win by promoting from within, working hard, taking the extra base, fielding, pitching and fundamentals. They run things like every sports teams should. I still am a big gophers, viking, and lakers fan. But the twins and baseball are my favorite. I still play ball locally in my mid 30s and view the game the way I do because of the Twins.
Heat, if I may request, I would rather Pappysworld wouldn’t elaborate. This has been a great blog of comments, and whether we like it or not, someone always has to go the racism, religious differences, or politics to make some kind of point. More later on my story.
1965, I was 9 years old, Harmon Killebrew, Bob Allison, World Series on the radio that fall in grade school, how could you NOT be a Twins fan? Fell in love with the Vikings for a while but it didn’t last, football doesn’t have the long term appeal of baseball. 1987, Win the World Series! What could be better, Herbie, Pucket, the Rat (before he found Jesus). Bruno, Bert, Frankie and the Machine Gunner, Les Straker, Senor Smoke; what a cast of characters. 1991, same tune some new players. Baseball endures, watched ‘em when they sucked, and loved ‘em anyway.
Twins, yeah the Twins, no “Nation”, no “Lovable Losers”, not the “Big Red Machine” or the “NY Yankees”; just the Twins and that’s good enough for me.
I grew up in NE MN with a Dad who was a die-hard Twins fan (and Grandfather). My Dad took me to my 1st game in 1984 at age seven. I don’t really remember it much, except that they played the Tigers. What can I say? I wasn’t lucky enough to go to any playoff games, living 3 1/2 hours away, but I got to a few regular season games over the years and I remember watching all that I could on TV and always listening on the radio.
Now I live in Northern California and am eternally thankful for MLB.TV and XM radio. I call my Dad back in MN almost every day to discuss the Twins. Unfortunately, I live about 3 1/2 hours away from Oakland (go figure), but am still hoping to get down next week for at least one game. The Diamondbacks moved their AAA team to Reno this year, so I’ve been luck enough to go to several of those games (only 1 hour away) and get my baseball fix (and see some former Twins players like Bobby Korecky).
I’ll always be a Twins fan. It’s in my blood.
I grew up in MN and have fond memories of the ‘87 and ‘91 seasons, but I didn’t really become a fan until after I moved away. In 2000, the Twins emerged from years of mediocrity (and worse) while being threatened with contraction. When I started listening to the games via internet–with the odd-couple tension between John and Dazzle and the nostalgia conjured by Herb’s voice–I was hooked and rarely have I missed a game since.
DrDon,
It has been a great blog of comments, but I’m simply curious to hear what Pappysworld has to say about his comment. I doubt he/she was trying to bring a negative vibe to the blog.
Grew up a Navy brat - dad would always bring back a couple pennants for me from each deployment. First Twins game was in ‘74, transferring from Seattle to Jacksonville. Held the bat like Carew all through high school. Became more of an Angels fan until he retired and Calvin sold the Twins. Used to keep score during the Game of the Week and lived for the All-Star game, practically the only time I got to see Carew until the Angel years.
Wound up in MN from ‘82-85, spent many many nights in the ‘dome. Went to KU when Bo was a man among boys and Saberhagen dressed in drag during autograph nights. Been back here since ‘90. Turned my back on the game for awhile after the strike, slowly came back to it and shared/had partial season tickets from ‘00 until this year.
This will be short and sweet. I went to my first Twins game in 1961 between my Junior and Senior Years of High School. 3 HS friends and I stayed at the old Parkway Hotel in downtown Minneapolis and attended a Saturday game and a Sunday game. I have been a Twins fan ever since. Period.
As soon as the diapers didn’t need changing anymore pops took me to the old MET. 1968 was my first game. Three hour drive from northern WI. Usually caught a Twins game followed by a goph football game at the old Memorial. Tony Dungy. In 87 at MaCalester my roomate and I either went to, watched on TV or listened to every game and then were too poor for playoff tix. Watched the 1991 series from Okinawa. My dad and I were in the dome when the roof ripped and a bank of lights dipped into the stands. In the early 70’s dad would load up the neighborhood kids and head out for a knot hole game. Great memories. Caught the twins here in san diego a few years ago and saw Santana’s first hit. Next memory should be the final series in the dome against KC in October as I catch the Badgers/Goph’s in their new stadium. Can’t wait.
Twins baseball was a part of my family just like Thanksgiving and Christmas. My dad listened to games in Eau Claire with his grandfather on CCO on the old the transistor radio. He was at the 85 All Star Game, and I’ll be sitting next to him at Game 1 of Target Field. Kirby was (and still is) my favorite player, and sticking through those lean 90s years was a badge of honor in our house. Those years all have paid off now that the team is winning again. The 91 WS was particularly memorable, and the 02 ALDS remains the loudest sound I have ever heard when Eddie was shutting the door. Life just wouldn’t be the same without the Twins.
OK, Heatonater, I can accept that, and I guess after your explanation, I, too, am more curious. Thanks for pointing that out.
I also grew up in Chicago, and I’m still here. Been a Twins/Vikings fan all my life thanks to two parents who were from Minnesota. I spent many summers going to at least a couple Sox-Twins games here in Chicago. The rivalry has always been pretty good because both teams have always been pretty close in the standings, whether good or bad. Never got to celebrate a WS title during my grammer/high school years when the trash talking was kind of fun, and unfortunately I was out of the country in 87, but thankfully I finally got to enjoy the 91 championship! Hope it’s not too long until the next.
My dad would bring me to the old Met center a couple of times a year. He pitched in college and his love for the Twins rubbed off on me. Carew, Olivia, Killebrew were like friends to us. When my dad wasn’t around later I imagined him listening to Halsey Hall’s broadcasts from wherever he was. I would sleep with my AM radio and the Twins were always on.
I grew up in Sodak and remember my dad listening to the Twins on a small radio.
One day in 1963 I remember him cheering and yelled to me “hey Steve,Earl Battey just hit a home run”. Been a Twins fan ever since.
Here is the posting that Heatonator and I are referring to, and would like more explanation from Pappy:
“”"Pappysworld says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 12:36 pm
I was born in Minnesota, and lived in a suburb during the 87 series run that wasn’t open to minorities like my family. I was not able to play on the best local baseball teams because of my religion, however I was able to be comforted by the Twins and their spirited play. It made me proud to be born in Minnesota — while at the same time hating Minnesota’s legendary religion-based segregation with a passion.”"”
Interesting post, afterall.
I’ve been a Twins fan my entire life thanks to parents who brought my brother and I to games every summer since I was 3 years old. I had just turned 6 before the Series in ‘91 and remember being absolutely thrilled to get to miss a day of school to go the victory celebration at the Dome. At the age of 9 I was absolutely devastated when the strike hit and didn’t know what I’d do for the rest of the summer without Herb and John to fill the evenings. My brother got hit in the face with a ball during one of his baseball games on the day Kirby retired. My whole family listened to the press conference on the radio in the car. I’m now approaching my 25th birthday, living in Detroit (and take great pride in wearing my Twins gear to Comerica Park) and more in love with baseball than ever. Thank goodness for MLB Radio; it keeps me up to date even though I’m hundreds of miles away from home. I’m looking forward to making the trek to Wrigley next week to catch my boys in action in person for the first time in 2009! Go Twins!
Yes, Dr.Don, that is a little disturbing. But all the posts mentioning their Dads make up for it. “Bob”, I believe it was, returned the favor and took his Dad to the ‘91 World Series. That was pretty cool. Anyone reading now should take his advice and do the same. Like the song goes:
“It’s too late
When we die,
I wish I could have told him,
In the living years”
What a joy to read everyones trips down memory lane.The thing that seems to stand out is how baseball was and still is a family passion,passed on from generation to generation.
It actually happened in reverse order for me.My father wasn’t a sports fan.When I started showing interest in baseball,my dad reluctantly got involved.He bought me a glove,ball and bat from the Sears Roebuck sports department,and bought one for himself.He didn’t even know how to play catch,but realized it was important to me and kept at it.He got better and actually learned how to hit fly balls and grounders to me in the back yard.
The Twins became an extention of that and my Dad became a pretty big fan.Even as I got older and my Dad and I didn’t see eye to eye on alot of things,baseball was always the common ground.
I lost my Dad last November at age 87.This is my first Summer of baseball without him and I must admit it’s not quite the same this year.I miss talking Twins Baseball with him very much.
Hey, Jeff also says, I was at that exhibition game in 74 also. Killebrew and Aaron had a home run hitting contest. Can’t remember who won. Fire works after. I want to say it was 4th of July.
My Mom says I’ve been a Twins fan since I was a baby. During the long hot summer nights – long before we had air conditioning – if I was being fussy and wouldn’t go to sleep. She’d find ‘CCO on the radio and the voice of Herb Carneal would put me out in seconds flat. Actually, I don’t know if this qualifies me as a fan or the exact opposite. Anyway, I grew up in small town southern Minnesota remember as a kid watching and rewatching our VHS tape copies of the 1991 World Series until the tapes wore out. I lost the faith during the strike and even more so after Puckett’s retirement, as I discovered other vices, basketball, football, and girls. But when I turned 16 in 2000, I got a crappy summer job working for the city as a day laborer. I’d drive around town in an old junky Dodge Ram pickup that only had an AM radio, and felt blessed when the Twins had a day game. I’d find someplace shady, park the truck and try not to fall asleep listening to Herb call the game! The Twins had a young and exciting team, and I couldn’t help but get hooked again on the greatest game.
I agree. I wish my father would have lived long enough to see the Twins win in ‘87 & ‘91 AND see his grandson hit his first homer in ‘09.
I don’t remember the date of my first game…but I know it was against Cleveland and Dan Gladden was involved in a triple play….but mostly I remember that unbelievable “GREEN” color of the astroturf when you first walked in to see the field. It was so bright…and it never failed to take my breath away. (Even though now as an adult, I realize how crappy it must have been to play on.
I became a Fan while fishing one summer with Gramma Rigo. 1963 and she would take an 6 year old out in the boat with the Twins games on the radio.
Been a fan ever since.
I learned to love the game before the Twins were. I grew up in the 50’s. My moms 3 older brothers all played ball. I have faint memories of going to their games as a todler. And playing “catch” with them. I remember them and my grampa talking bout the Millers, the “Say hay kid” and Nicollet Field. When I was 5 my dads friend coached 6 and 7 yr olds. He kinda took me under his wing. He was a huge man. An ex pro linebacker. But I’ve never met a kinder man. He allowed me to participate in practices with the older kids. I got a uniform and everything. I was lucky. The older kids all accepted me. I remember my first glove. 2 dollars and change, mail order from Sears and Robucks. I played every day in the summer. Back then you could just jump on your bike and go to the park. If we got 4 guys we had a game. Any less than 4 and we’d hit flys or grounders to one another. We’d play till dark. I became a Twins fan because the teams I played on got to go to the knothole games a lot. Mom would fix a big bag of popcorn for me and my brother and our buds to bring to the game. I remember the old right field bleachers. There was a real danger of slivers back then. As much as I am a fan of the Twins, what I really am is a fan of the game. Wasn’t it Crash Davis who said “It’s beautiful…it’s perfect.”
I’ve been casual fan since the ‘91 season when my uncle took me to my first Twins game in the middle of summer when I was just 12. I didn’t become die hard until 2005 when the Vikings (to me at least)were in the doldrums of the NFL. What once used to infuriate me about the Twins has switched to the Vikings. Also in 2005 I moved to the east coast for Graduate school and was smack dab in the middle of the Red Sox Nation on the tip of the Evil Empire. I had to hear all of their B.S. and having been born in Minnesota but raised in California I was more inclined to like a team no one else liked just to get under their skin, be confrontational. Also living in New England I would attend New Britain Rockcat games in Connecticut as well as Rochester Red Wing games when they played Pawtucket. I got to shake hands with Denard Span, Scott Baker, Matt Tolbert, Kevin Slowey and Matt Garza in that time. This last year I attended an Arizona Fall League game(my first) while visiting my brother, it just happened to be November 4th election day after the game I raced all the way home to San Bernardino, California from Phoenix, Arizona (5 hour drive) to vote for President Obama. Going to those minor league games makes it more intimate and caused me to love the game again from when I was a baseball card collecting twerp.
I was introduced to the Twins at a very young age…
During the 1987 World Series run, when I was not quite two years old, my Dad had me memorize the entire starting defense of that team (try sounding out Lombardozzi at that age!). Then, in 1991 (at the age of five) I would insist that my Dad whisper the World Series score into my ears at night, even though I couldn’t have told Kent Hrbek from David Justice. I was just caught up in the excitement that my family was showing!
I personally started following the game in quite a strange way back in 1995. For whatever reason, I started idolizing Rick Aguilera as my favorite Twin (maybe it was the well-manicured beard, I honestly don’t know!) and was devastated to see him traded to the Red Sox towards the end of that season. That trade got me into reading the newspapers and watching ESPN to keep up with my team, and my obsession was born!
howard — can you get joe and lavelle to share their intro to baseball stories? could be interesting …
I’m going to get crucified for this, but I was 5 when the Twins won the WS in 87′ and I remember it being a big deal. Then in 91′ they had a sweet new second baseman named Chuck Knoblach who could do it all without being a very big guy. I was now 9, tiny for my age, and I had a new favorite player (I hope nobody hunts me down and kills me). So, that’s the deal, been all Twins ever since. Although, I didn’t feel too bad for Knobby when he was getting batteries thrown at him in 2001 because he had become such a jerk that he kind of had it coming.
i was always a casual twins fan before 2001..but when the contraction talk began, thats when i really started to be a twins fanatic..no minnesota twins would have been too much to handle for me! thats when i really started paying attention to games, players, stats, etc..have been obsessed with them ever since
I’ve been a Twins fan all 35 years of my life, being a good Minnesota girl, but I wasn’t a baseball fan until 2004. I had been laid off, so I was home one afternoon with nothing to watch on TV. I stopped on the Twins game. they were in Toronto, and Matthew Lecroy came up to bat with the bases loaded and hit one over the wall. I started listening to DicknBert, and over the course of the next couple of weeks, I learned the rules and learned how to keep score, and I discovered that I really enjoy the GAME. and now when I’m driving to work, I see the new stadium, and I get all giddy for next season when I can see my first outdoor Twins home game.
Howard: It’s a sad story, but the first memory I have (though it wasn’t my first game) is as a 7-year-old. My dad drove me down for a Yankees game and big Cliff Johnson hit a bomb for a grand slam in the first inning off Geoff Zahn. Don Gullett threw a three-hit shutout and Zahn threw shutout ball for the last eight innings. Sounds boring, but that was a big year for Rod Carew, who scratched out two hits, somehow. Pretty cool. It was fun looking up that game on Baseball Reference. Thanks for the question.
I grew up in Fargo and spent a lot of summer nights listening to the Twins on the radio. I went to sleep with Herb and Halsey Hall many evenings. What really cemented my love for the Twins was going to my first game at the old Met in August, 1995. I went with my mom, dad and grandfather. The Twins were playing the Yankees. The pitching matchup was Kaat v. Cullen. Bob Allison had been mired in a terrible slump. I was there to watch Killebrew and Oliva. My grandfather and I heartly booed Allison everytime he came up to bat. Wouldn’t you know it he broke out of his slump in a big way (I think he went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles and a HR). The Twins won 9-2 on their way to the pennant that year. On the way out of the ballpark my grandfather said to my dad we’ll have to do this every year. I was soon back in school in the 2nd grade. My grandfather was died from stomach cancer 3 months later. Since then I’ve lived in Chicago, Washington DC, Portland Oregon, Milwaukee, WI, Medford, Oregon and Boise, ID. But the highlight of every summer has being able to go to at least one Twins game every year since then in memory of my grandfather. I now have the same tradition going with my oldest son as he has accompanied me to at least one game since 1990 when he was 3 years old. GO TWINS AND KEEP DOING IT THE TWINS WAY!
I became a fan of baseball in 1985… at the age of 3 when my uncle who was a diehard Astros fan would babysit myself and my sister and for payment during the summer months my mom would send the three of us to the Astrodome 3-4 times a week, that was a very costly yet fun time for us that lasted probably until I was 10 and could no longer get the kid’s rate at the dome. But that year was when I was exposed to the likes of Niekro, Ryan and Scott and started my fondness of Astros 2B (that would last until Matsui took over) with Doran and I want to say it was the first or second year of Phil Garner being there too. But when we weren’t in the dome watching the game, my uncle would have us sit quietly when the game started and watch every pitch, telling us that we were lucky to be witnessing a rotation that we had. The team didn’t do that well that year, and soon they went their other ways but that was the year that I became a baseball fan.
When I became a Twins fan (I know I am going to get grief for but oh well) was when this same uncle died was my senior year of college and since I couldn’t make it home for the funeral the only logical thing I could think of was to go to a game in his memory. Since I couldn’t afford the cubs and there was no way I was going to Comisky again some of my friends went with me to Principle park to see the Iowa Cubs play, which durning the summers my uncle babysat us we would bring recorded tapes of the Cubs and Braves games off of cable since he didn’t have it so we can watch it together. But during the game we went to I saw a player named Brendan Harris who was a pretty good little 3b player who was a poly sci major like myself and went to a sort of small college and had a very sweet swing. Him coming to the twins along with Lamb who was good in Houston (oh and the twins being offered to me at work) were the reason I became a fan last year.
My mother always had the kitchen radio tuned to WCCO, so I listened to a lot of games in the 60’s and went to the Old Met once or twice a year. I remember going to a game against the Tigers and when Gates Brown was batting, one kid cheered out “C’mon Gates, get a hit!” I was incredulous that someone could be cheering against the Twins. Killebrew hit a single to win that game. My grandfather listened to the Twins and I remember he would get irritated when Mike Marshall was put in the game and he would actually shut off the radio.
I grew up in the Long Lake-Delano area 1968-1983, and my parents took me to many games at Met Stadium as a child. I remember seeing Rod Carew, Lyman Bostock, Bombo Rivera, Butch Wynegar, Dave Goltz, Tony Oliva, among so many others. I remember the 1977 season when they seemed to lead the AL West for half the season only to fade down the stretch while the Royals took the division. I remember when Kent Hrbek was a rookie and kept hitting homers for a team that couldn’t win much anyway. I went to Ohio for college, which is where I was in 1987 - my parents went to the WS games and told me all about it, though. When 1991 came around, I didn’t miss it - my dad and I went to Game 1 to watch Jack Morris out-pitch Charlie Liebrandt (which I felt a little bad about since Charlie is an alumnus of my college - Miami University) and watched Hrbek hit a towering homer to right field, and felt the white noise of the Dome crowd in full throat for nine innings. Carl Pohlad wasn’t the best owner ever, but he was sure miles better than Calvin Griffith. I will love the Twinkies forever (though they test my patience routinely, like now). I would love to see the new ballpark, and hope to come visit someday to do so.
I was a Chisox and Brooklyn/LA Dodger fan until 1961. The 1959 series was tough to watch, b/c my Dad and I liked both teams.
Then the Twins came to MN and my dad and I drove to Minneapolis from SF, SD to see to a game. Jim Gentile hit a HR.
I saw sevral games with my Dad at the Met and enjoyed talking with him while driving to Minneapolis from SF, SD. (Aka, Central San Francisco )
I still remember the first baseball cards that I saw of the Twins. They were on the back of either Post or Kelloggs cereal boxes and the team was listed as the “Minneapolis Twins.”
In 1961, my Dad and I became a Twins fan. All of my kids and grandkids are Twins fans.
The youngest of my kids, my daughter, lives in Minneapolis with her husband (they see many Twins games each season), my oldest son & two granddaughters live in SF, SD, (they have a flex-40 season ticket package and see several games each season) and my youngest son and oldest grandchild live in MD, but both follow the Twins and get to Minneapolis at least once a year for a couple of games, as do I.
And when I was living in SF, SD, My Dad, I, and my kids followed the Twins on WNAX out of Yankton, SD (later switched to KSOO) and enjoyed listening to Herb and Halsey Hall.
7 years ago my brother made me sit down and watch the Twins opening day game at Kansas City. I wasn’t a baseball fan up to that point and I had never even watched the Twins. The first at bat I ever saw Jacque Jones put the ball into the fountain in Kansas City. Not only was my fate sealed as a Twins fan for life but I started to play organized baseball, and have been at it now for 7 years.
I grew up in the middle of MN and listened to baseball games on the radio. Both my dad and grandpa were die hard Twins fans so it was a natural progression for me. I went to game 1 of the World Series in 1991 as a 10 year old. I would say that I became an official die hard Twins fan in the lean years living and dying on the Marty Cordova and Todd Walker teams. I have officially become worse than ever, I now live in CO and I bought MLB TV and I watch just about every Twins game and check out multiple Twins blogs every day at work (big ups to Seth, I love the Minor league updates).
“”"Joe the First says:
June 2nd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
” enjoyed listening to Herb and Halsey Hall.”
For those of us, Joe 1st, that saw and listened to Halsey Hall, we can never forget the belly laughs and cigar coughs.
My dad is from Minnesota. He moved out here to Montana after WWII. In 1965 he and my mom went back for the World Series, that made me aware of the Twins. I think it was actually the Vikings that helped me become a Twins fan. Like I said, I was aware of the Twins but not aware enough to be aware of what happened in ‘67. When I was a kid we only had 3 TV channels and on sunday 2 of them carried football. We didn’t like football but I decided to watch since nothing else was on. I stumbled across the Vikings and quickly became a fan. That lead me to research all teams Minnesota. I quickly became a Twins fan in time to be broken hearted when they lost the first two divisional playoff series to Baltimore. At night I would be able to listen to WCCO periodically as it faded in and out. I missed Harmon Killebrew’s 500th and 501st homeruns by only a few minutes as we were harvesting late. If I was a big fan, I became the biggest fan when Kirby came up in ‘84. When I saw that box score for his first game I became enthralled. My oldest son is supposed to be named for Kirby but my wife backed out of the bet because she said Kirby wasn’t a presidential name! The bet is a long story. Anyway, I am still hooked and always will be. Can’t wait to go out to Minnesota for a game at the new stadium next year!!!
Joe 1st, I can still remember Halsey on the radio broadcast…. “”"HO HO HO, (cough, cough, cough)… Did you see that folks????”"” Listening on the radio, how the hell were we supposed to see that? He was something.
Remember the night Halsey dropped a cigar on some papers and it light the whole booth on fire and ‘CCO had to go off the air for a couple of innings?
Now that you mentioned it, Don P, I do. I had forgotten that. Halsey Hall, indeed something that the younger people never got to experience. I am glad I did.
I was born in 1956, and my father used to take my brother and me to games at Met stadium. He was a teacher and would have time during the summers to do that. We also listened to games on the radio - Ray Scott, Halsey Hall, Herb Carneal on WCCO. I remember the teams of Lenny Green in center (before Jimmy Hall) Bernie Allen at second, Rich Rollins at third, Zoilo at short, Harmon and Bob Allison in the corners in the outfield with Vic Power at first with Earl Batty catching Camilo Pasqual, Jim Kaat or Mudcat Grant. I lost interest for awhile as a teenager - other things to do and the Twins in 70’s weren’t all that good, but still went occasionally. I hated going inside, and watched and listened but wouldn’t go to the Metrodome until after they almoost made the playoffs in 1984 - they missed by losing to Cleveland at the end of the season (Ken Schrom pitching if I remember) after leading 10 to 0. I started bringing the kids of a friend to games - in 1987 we went to a lot of games and those kids never saw them lose. Slept outside at Brookdale for tickets and took my Dad and those kids to the first two World series games that year. I bought a ticket from a scalper and got to see game 7. In 1991, I lived downtown in a condo with a hotel below - where the Braves stayed the first two games - saw Ted Turner, Jane Fonda and Gregory Peck leave for the game one night.
My dad , still a huge Twins fan, died the first part of last March, and it’s was the first time in 5 or 6 years we didn’t go down to spring training together, which was always a lot of fun.
I vaguely remember when the Twins (& Vikes) came in 1961. I have vivid memories beginning in 1962 with Killebrew, Allison, Kaat, etc. I also have great memories of outdoor baseball at Met Stadium and cannot wait to see the new ballpark! I survived the lean years for the Twins and was rewarded with the Hrbek/Puckett years and 2 World Series Titles. I watched the 1987 game seven alone as my wife had went to bed! All those years of waiting, and I had to cheer quietly so I would not wake the family. As much as I enjoy all sports, baseball is number one of the “big four” and always will be. GO TWINS!
jpike, I’m a 1956′er too. Our Twins memories are similar.
I first started follwing the Twins in 1965 while watching them play the Dodgers in the World Series. Growing up a Twins fan in Texas, it hasn’t always been easy to catch the Twins games (Thank heavens for Direct Ticket!) Back in the 70’s I remember sitting in my car in the evenings in my parents driveway listening to Herb Carneal call the Twins games on WHO out of Des Moines, IA. I would have to start the car and back up or pull forward a bit when the reception was bad. They brought tears of joy to me in 1987 and 1991 with their World Series wins. I’ve traveled to the Twin Cities to see the Twins play about 8 times. I truly enjoyed the Metrodome experience. Let’s hope that our 2009 squad has a great season. Enjoy Target Field in 2010!
I was born in 1984, so most of my memories of the Twins are post-World Series, though I do remember listening to Game 6 of the ‘91 series on a car ride home from Wisconsin. I was so tired that I fell asleep, but I woke up when my family got home and, knowing that the Twins had to win, nervously asked if they won. My mom said, “Yes, they did. Kirby Puckett hit a home run to win the game.” It was truly mythic for me, and I haven’t looked back since.
July 1977, I was 12 when I went to my first Twins game at the Met, against Cleveland. Ron Schuler was shelled, spotted the Indians a 7-1 lead, Gene Mauch was ejected after a red-faced hissy fit, Twins came back to take an 11-7 lead on Carew’s four hits and Mike Cubbage’s grand slam, then hung on for a 13-11 win. I didn’t realize at the time that baseball wasn’t always that exciting.
Ten years later, I’d sit in the awful right field seats at the Metrodome that they charged only $3 for (and which are covered by a tarp now). I reasoned that if you could watch Kirby Puckett play baseball for $3, that was the best entertainment deal in town.
My Mom and Dad are baseball fans. I started with the San Antonio Dodgers, now San Antonio Missions when I was kid. Eventually, as my sister and I got a little older, our family Summer vacation was a trip to Houston or Arlington to see the Astros or Rangers and go to Astroworld or Six Flags. We’d sit in the parking lot and eat Kentucky Fried Chicken and drink Shasta sodas then head into the game.
I always loved baseball because of my mom and dad. When I was stationed in Maryland, though, after the strike, I refused to have anything to do with pro baseball and thus it wasn’t until I moved here that I eventually made it back to go to Camden Yards.
I moved here in May of ‘96. I was living and working downtown and was so … I can’t even explain the feeling, but it was like I was so excited to have a major league baseball team so close, I practically vibrated. I’d leave work and walk the few blocks to the dome, pick up a cheap ticket and catch games about once a week. I usually went by myself because the Twins weren’t that great and none of my friends were that into baseball. But that was ok, because I fell in love with the Twins then. The thing I remember telling my mom and dad was that the Twins played like someone forgot to tell them this wasn’t the minor leagues. They played like they were all scared as hell to go back and like they could care less if you paid them because they were having one hell of a good time. I loved the fact that you didn’t read about them in the police blotter. Like I could pick any guy on the team as my favorite and not have to be ashamed of it later when I read the newspaper. Back then, in those lean years, it was like being part of an exclusive club of a few thousand with a baseball team.
I fell in love with the Twins then and have been in love with them ever since.
I started supporting the Twins in a weird roundabout way. I was babysitting my cousins around Christmas time some 15 years ago. Thoroughly bored I flicked tv channels and stumbled across a Vikings vs Bears game. I ended up watching the whole thing and have supported the Vikings ever since.
Then about 9 years ago, with my affinity for Minnesota, I started watching baseball on UK tv and watching out for the Twins results. My love of the Twins has grown ever since. I watch any Twins game that is shown over here on ESPN America and also regularly stay up late to watch the games via MLB.com. I’m getting married in September and am honeymooning in NYC - was really hoping the Twins would be in town. Alas they aren’t and I’ve had to settle with going to see a Yankees vs Blue Jays game, which’ll be my first ever live baseball game!!!
David…”Yes, they did. Kirby Puckett hit a home run to win the game.” It was truly mythic for me, and I haven’t looked back since.
I will never forget the magic words….
“”"”"And we’ll see you tomorrow night!!!”"”"”
I started watching when my big brother was freaking out that we made the playoffs in 1987. I didn’t really get it, but I thought that baseball must be cool because he thought it was. I met Kirby Puckett that winter, and he was so nice to me that I started watching just to see him play. I got pretty obsessed for a few years. I loyally stuck with the team until Kirby got glaucoma, then my interest drifted to playing in bands and baseball was just what I listened to when fishing with my dad.
In 2001, I realized I had this baseball-shaped-hole in my life and started watching, listening to, or reading about every game. The team welcomed me back with a stretch of really good teams.
The older I get, the more I love baseball and the less I care about football.
The first game I went to was Pedro Munoz’ debut. It seems funny now, but the metrodome seemed like the greatest place in the world. I remember shaking when the team came on the field and I realized I was in the same room as the players.
Wow.
My first recollection of major league was the fall of 1951. Because of a serious leg infection I was confined to bed. Iremember listening to the world series and became a Yankee and Mantle fan. Some of my favorite recollections involve putting a crying towel on the neighbor’s fence so she could dry the tears that came with being a Sox fan.
Fifty-eight years later still love the Yankees.
I was never real interested in baseball as a child, but around 5 years ago I started getting interested in it. I was already a fan of every Minnesota team being that all my family lived in Minnesota. I don’t want to be a Diomandback fan even though I live in AZ so I started watching every game on free tv and I loved it. That’s my story.
As kid going to the Met for Halter top day with my youth team, rain jacket day with my dad (they ran out), watching a melted malt cup fall from the upper deck onto my dad’s cannary sweater stiitng behind the Yankees dugout (with Reggie and company).
Adopting the 70’s & 80’s Pihillies as my “other” team since I wanted to have someone to cheer for in September and October. Loving Mike Jack Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Pete Rose.
Pictures with Bombo Rivera, Gene Mauch & Dave Goltz on camera day. Being there for the 2 Dome exhibition openers with Pete Rose & his Phillies (my NL team). The heartbreak of the mistake by the lake in ‘84.
Spending my high school summers in the outfield bleachers with Kirby and Bruno throwing curveballs to each other in between innings.
Watching Ricky Henderson, then with the Yankees, “pick-up” the woman in front of us by writing his hotel phone number on a baseball he flipped to her in between innings.
Camping out all night in the Rosedale parking lot for World Series tickets in ‘87 then selling 6 of my 8 to games 1 &2 for $100 apiece (a lot of cash for a broke college student). Nearly being crushed on the streets and then at the Capital during the victory parade.
Being at both all 6 home post season games in 1991. Seeing in person Jack Morris utter those words after game 6 “let’s get it on”. Being on the Dome field before and after Game 7 in ‘91.
Shedding a tear the day Kirby had to pull the plug on his Hall of Fame career.
Shedding another that beautiful Sunday in Cooperstown watching in person Puckett get inducted along with St. Paul’s own Dave Winfield. Shedding my love for Pete Rose after watching him hawk his signing wares in the building next to the hall that same day.
Being in Miller Park for Torii’s All-Star homer stealing catch against Bonds.
Not moving from my “lucky” spot in the office as Eddie gave us all a heart attack in 2002 in Oakland for the ALDS winner.
Being in Fenway late in September of ‘06, sitting next to Pesky’s pole and hearing all the cheers from Twins fans as Big Papi hit his 50th but the Twins won for the 2nd straight night to stay in the magical pennant race with the Tigers and White Sox.
And now passing this love for the Twins and baseball onto our son. Seeing him choose to hit left handed, belting the ball off the tee and then throwing it right handed and thinking “maybe the next Maurer or Morneau”.
Thanks for the memories Twinks and here’s hoping the love affair has more fun in store.
Go Twins!
“Spending” of course not Shedding at Cooopertown.
For something completely different: I grew up as an expat kid (my dad, from, Minn. was an engineer) living in Venezuela. I started following MLB on shortwave radio in 1968 listening to the 68 WS when the Tigers beat the Cards. In 1969, i started following the Twins and have been a fan ever since. Great years, great memories.
Prior to 1961 I was a Milwaukee Braves and Chicago White Sox fan. I didn’t care much for the Washington Senators, but when they became the Twins, I became a fan immediately. From the very first pitch that Pedro Ramos threw in April 1961 (a 6-0 shutout of the Yankees) I have been a Twins fan.
I’ve been a Twins fan as long as I can remember. My Mom and Dad listened to every game on the radio. I grew up being mesmerized by Herb Carneal’s voice. My Mom kept score of the games and my Dad had a portable radio that he brought with him everywhere. We lived in SW MN near the SD border (Adrian) and my uncle would go to one game a year. I was the biggest Twins fan out of 4 children (but the youngest) and I was deemed too young at the age of 6 to go with my uncle due to the long ride and full day. I threw a fit and every year after my uncle took me to a game and I loved every minute of it. Rich Rollins was my favorite Twin as he treated me great at “Bat Day” and as he was signing my bat said “This autograph will be smeared the first time you hit a hard double” and he was right.
I was born in Minnesota, and around 1981 through baseball cards, I found out that a baseball team existed in the state (age 6).
July 30th 2006 - Twins vs Tigers. It was 105 in Mpls and my air conditioner couldnt keep up. It was 91 in my apartment and it made my head hurt to do anything and even taking a nap was impossible. I turned on the TV to see if there was anything on and came upon th game. I dont even remember who the Twins had pitching - Radke , Boof??. The Tigers had Bonderman and he was cruising. Tigers were well ahead when Jim Leland made the fatal mistake of sening Jeremy out for the bottom of the 8th. He proceded to load the bases and then committed a balk which scored a run. I remember him turning to watch the runners move around the bases and yelling “I dont believe it!!!” Then he fell to pieces and the fielders fell with him, the Twins batted around and took the lead. Top of the 9th Joe Nathan came in to pitch and I thought to myself “Who is this tall cool drink of water??” He saved the game, of course, and I was hooked. Just like that. (Still cant stand Bonderman, absoloutly cant stand him!!)
1970..I was 9y/o. I first came to the U.S from the Philippines,by myself. My mother was already here. I was so excited. The weather of course was different from where i came from, even in July. It was cool for me. I didnt have a jacket, so my mother bought me my very first Twins jacket. She told me who they were.That was my first taste of Twins baseball. I didnt know much baseball growing up in the Philippines. But from then on I was hooked. I’d watch ‘em on tv trying to understand the game, especially if you didnt know much english. I think I was 11 or 12 when i went to my first baseball game. My best friend growing up would go to alot of Twins games. Him and his dad would take me to a few. The Met stadium was awesome. Since then I have been a Twins fan and always will be. Finally met Harmon Killebrew 2 years ago during spring training. A picture with him is all i needed. GO TWINS!
When I was about 7 or 8 years old I saw some pictures of baseball players on my friend’s wall. He said they were giving them out at the Super Valu. I remember seeing Ron Peronowski, Jim Perry and others. It was that summer that my sister moved from Albert Lea to St. Paul and asked if I’d like to go see a baseball game at the Met. I got to the game and saw this huge stadium at the time and saw all the guys practicing before the game. I was hooked. It was then after the game that I got Harmon Killebrew’s autograph and that was all there was. I was a Twins fans for life. I live in Connecticut now and work at ESPN and if I’m not watching the Twins at work I am at home with DirecTV. GO Twins!!!
I was a Twins fan by default since my dad was one. What really sealed my dedication was when my dad surprised me with a ticket to Game 7 of the 1991 World Series. For an 8 year old Twins fan, that was just about heaven, especially as I look back on it. I became disillusioned when I saw that team gradually dismantled, still seeing the game through the eyes of a boy. I came around a few years ago and have followed them closely since.
I grew up in Minnesota but didn’t become a Twins fan until I was 18, in the summer of 1976. I had gone to Montana to work on a ranch in between college years. WCCO after sundown reached across the Plains, and at night after the work was done, listening to the Twins became a connection to home. Been a fan ever since. Was able to get to game 6 of the ‘87 series. Now I follow them online.
Gotta say. I’ve been a Twins fan longer than I can remember. But my earliest memory of the Twins is staying up late to watch game 7 of the ‘91 series. My dad was at the game and the next morning, having fallen asleep before he got home (undoubtedly out flipping over squad cars and lighting garbage cans on fire), I came downstairs to find more Twins World Champions memorabilia than I could shake a stick at.
Was definitely a die hard fan in my older youth during the dog days of the nineties. For some reason I saw hope in the likes of Scott Stahoviak, Rich Becker and Matt Walbeck. Ron Coomer was obviously a stud… The end of Kirby’s career was a tragedy for me, but baseball lives on.
1987 playsoff against Detroit.
I was 13 and heard the Twins were in the playoffs…I said ha…no Minnesota team ever wins anything…then the Twins proved me wrong and I have been a fan since the 87 Detroit Series…and really really became a fan in 1991…for some reason I started following the Twins that season in Spring training for the first time, watch them have a good spring training record…start crappy…and then go on and have the funnest season ever! And I followed it from the very beginning to the extra inning finnish…awesome
My mom was and still is a die-hard fan. It didn’t matter what we were doing, if there was a game on the radio, we would listen to it. It didn’t matter if we were in the house, the barn, the car, the tractor, we had to listen to the game. I guess it rubbed off on my sister and I, because we’re both big fans.
I became a fan by watching the 87′ season highlight video everyday when I was a kid and by starting to play baseball at age 3 and continuing until I was 18
I was born in Minneapolis and went to my first game in 1974 (age 9)and went to games in 75 & 76 also. Moved away to Iowa in 1976 & in 81 traveled back with the family to see friends and a final baseball game at the Met. The next day went downtown to see the new dome being built. Saw a number of games in the dome whenever we made it back to Minneapolis but never made it to any playoff games.
This year I will be going to the final game in the dome and as history repeats itself see how Target Field is progressing back to outside baseball.
My Grandfather was a Twins fan and so is my Dad. I remmeber my grandfather listening to the Twins on the radio while I stayed at the lake with him and my grandma. One of my earliest Twins memories was at the Met when I had to use the bathroom late in the game and Killebrew hit a home run that my Dad missed taking me to the bathroom. I really came back to the Twins in the early 80’s when they were pathetic. something about the underdog made me pull for them…. I’ve seen the all-star game in 1985 and both game 7’s from 87 and 91. 1984 was a heartbreak year, but 87 made up for that. What made 87 so speacial was the guys that endured the terrible years made it to the top. I remmeber Gaetti saying that what drove him was other teams telling them they belonged in AAA and would never win anything. How sweet it was….
As a kid in SW MN, we all got excited when the Senators moved here. We played ball almost every day in different spots around the small town. Played lots of catch. And the Twins were on TV.
JFK got elected. The Beatles invaded. Things changed. I changed.
TK took over. The Twins changed. How could you resist.
I never liked sports, I never saw the point. I ran Cross Country in HS because all my friends were doing it. When I moved to Minneapolis a few years ago (2007) my parents were visiting and wanted to go to a Twins game because they were long time fans (coming from South Dakota). I was fully prepared to be bored out of my mind.
The first time I was in the Metrodome, and saw a real baseball game… I was hooked. 25 years old and a life long baseball hater, and one game was all it took.
Now I am a Twins fan, a fully converted baseball geek. I spend hours every week reading all the comments here on the strib blogs and the completely fantastic constellation of Twins/MLB blogs out there.
Changed my whole perspective on a lot of things in life.
First Twins memory: My father grew up two blocks from the old Met and we’d go to games in the summer whenever we visited my grandparents. The first game I remember was against the White Sox, who were wearing their uniforms, which included shorts (circa 1976). That began my love for the Twins and my hatred for the White Sox.
Favorite Twins memory: Kent Hrbek shooting potatoes from his boat toward the outdoor patio at the Bay View Lodge (Lake Vermilion) in 2003. There is nothing quite like sharing a drinking moment with your childhood hero and close friends. . . even if we’re all acting like adult-children.
I had just turned 4 when the former Senators began playing here as the Twins. Our dad usually took our big family to several games each year. Usually knothole-gang games. My earliest memory of Met Stadium was vs. the Yankees, with Mantle, Maris, Tom Tresh.
As a little kid I was in a peewee baseball program that our dad ran, and so I was around baseball plenty, but it wasn’t until I was about 7 that following baseball finally clicked with me, on TV, and through boxscores in the newspaper. It was around that time that an older brother was ready to be done with his big collection of baseball cards, which I snapped up for a pittance, and that gave me exposure to baseball history back through about the later ’50s.
Twins games on black-and-white TV were staples in our house on those weekends when the Twins were on the road (home games were rarely if ever televised on broadcast TV until recently). At our house color-TV didn’t arrive until just in time for the ‘69 ALCS, Orioles vs. Twins; so through almost all of the ’60s baseball on TV was for me a black-and-white experience. But that was fine. When instant-replay was first coming in, around the mid-’60s, that was a very big thrill.
Bedtimes at our house were quite a bit on the early side, but we were allowed to have the radio on, and so in our bunkbeds, my little brother and I listened to a lot of Twins games on ‘CCO. I have followed the Twins closely in all of the decades since the ’60s, except for a lapse of a few years in the mid-to-later ’70s, when I was so disgusted with Calvin Griffith about trading away talented players as soon as he could no longer under-pay them.
The Twins have been, and continue to be, a favorite part of my personal history. At times the team has lost sight of that sort of thing, like when Mr. Pohlad was willing to contract the team out of existence. My sense is that his son Jim, now in charge, “gets it”, regarding himself as not just the controlling owner, but as the steward of a precious community asset. The Twins have a great history here, and new great historical things have been been occurring in recent seasons, with the outstanding achievements of of Torii Hunter, Johan Santana, Justin Morneau, and Joe Mauer. For the Twins the ’60s were a dominant era, and also the late-’80s through ‘92, and now through most of the ’00s. I think that ten or twenty years from now we’ll look back at this decade as a sort-of golden era.
It’s always been tempting to bash Calvin Griffith and Carl Pohlad for their often tight-fisted ways, but comparing our situation to that of most other MLB franchises, we’ve been very fortunate to have had the consistency of family ownership. A quarter century here under Griffith (after an even longer stretch under the Griffith family in D.C.). A quarter-century under the Pohlads. Considering the ownership turmoil in so many other MLB cities, I bet we’re the envy of most.
I’m excited about the new stadium, and I’m enjoying following the current team, despite its frustratingly uneven performance. On TV I would still rather watch any ordinary Twins game — not just a close, exciting, one — than most NFL, NBA, and NHL games.
I meant to include, above, that for my now-grown daughter, Twins games, in person, and on TV, were an important part of her childhood. As soon as I taught her how to keep score, she loved doing that. Just like I had, as a kid. For her, the Twins are a generational link, a shared interest, between her and me and her mom, and her grandparents. That’s a really beautiful thing.
Game 7 of the 1991 World Series was won on my birthday. I was convinced it was a present from the Twins just for me. I don’t remember much from the 1987 series (too young), but I remember going to Twins games for as long as I can remember.
I went to my first game in 1979 to see the Twins play the Red Sox. I was only 4 or 5 at the time. I remember that we sat along the right field side and that the Met had a huge parking lot, but that is about it. I guess I held my glove up for most of the game and ate a hot dog according to my dad. I was a casual fan of the game growing up admiring John Castino and Mickey Hatcher. I also recall being amused by a book about the Metrodome where, if you flipped the corner pages, you could see a cartoon of the dome deflating. My first game in the Dome was in 85 against the Tigers. However, it was the Mets/Red Sox series that really got me hooked to the game. In the summer of 87, my family went on a trip to South Dakota and at Reptile Gardens, after you paid a nickel or something, a caged bird pecked at a buzzer which said the Twins would win the World Series that year. I was really hooked after that. I remember my 8th grade math teacher allowing us to watch the first game of the 1988 season during class, which was cool. Started collecting baseball cards in 1989. That lasted until 1992 when I couldn’t keep up with all of the expensive brands coming out at that time. Then, the strike of 94 came and wiped out my interest of the game altogether. I did not watch a single game until Cal Ripken Jr. broke the consecutive games record in 95. The HR race in 98 really got me back to the game. During these years, I was away from the Twin Cities, so I did not attend any games for a long time. Went to one game in 2000 against the Chi Sox; sat in the football press box and could hear people talking on the other side of the Dome. But, I moved back here and have steadily increased the number of games I attend. I’m now a season ticket holder and cannot wait to attend outdoor games next year. I hope I pass my love of the game to my kids.
Thanks for this great idea, Howard…….Usually when I see a Twins blog post with hundreds of comments I turn away, because it’s likely to be repetitive ranting about details about the Twins’ starting lineup that day. But this string of comments has been delightful. My favorite contribution: “Jeff in WI”, at 12:54. Beautiful.
Two words.
Joe. Mauer.
He was the reason to watch baseball in the beginning for me, and he partially still is, but because he’s absolutely fantastic at the game and not just very nice to look at (which, of course, he is). He got me hooked on a game that I can’t get enough of, whether it’s watching, listening, or constantly refreshing Yahoo!Sports to see what the score is while I’m at work. I find myself quite grateful for that.
The 1966 Pirates. I lived in western Pennsylvania at the time, and, if I’m not mistaken, was entering junior high, so there must have been some wish to “talk Pirates” with friends. Five years later they won the Series. I followed the Pirates for a number of years…. until I moved to Minnesota in 1976 and began watching and rooting for the Twins. I did manage to get to a playoff game in 1987 (and that unbelievable rally at the Metrodome after winning the leage championship) and was there at the penultimate Game 6 in the ‘91 series. And although I’ve moved to Kentucky, I still follow the Twins (and the American League) religiously, although I’m limited to the very occasional ESPN game and MLB GameDay audio…and the STrib reports. And I’m trying to work out a road trip to the new stadium next year.
It was the spring of 1985 and a buddy and I were listening to the Twins on WNAX in Yankton. We would listen every chance that we could and would either drive around to listen to the game in the car or just hang out at each others house. We had to catch the game. Some of these games were not in our favor as the Twins were starting to come together and gel into the 1987 World Series Champs! I listened to the games when I could and then I moved to the Black Hills in 1991 and could not listen anymore. Then around 2001, the local cable company added FS North to the programing so I could watch the games. I had another buddy, who was also from East River SD, who was a Twins fan too. We would be at each others house and watch the games. The best is when we would sit in his garage and have a cool beverage and watch the Twins. In 2003, I got the chance to take my two sons to their first Twins game. We lost in extra innings to the Indians, but they sure do remember it though. Now my sons and I watch or listen to the game nightly. Our favorite way to listen to the game is when we are fishing on the Missouri River, catching walleys and signing the Twins theme song….We are going to win Twins!!!
The first major league game I ever saw was in 1959. The Washington Senators defeated the New York Yankees 1-0. I think Camilo Pascual was the pitcher. I became a fan of the Senators and remained a fan of the franchise following the move to Minnesota.
