The Tall Tales clearly had the more star-studded lineup in the North Star Stature Showdown, featuring Hall of Famers Joe Mauer and Dave Winfield along with many more power bats (e.g. Cotton Nash, Miguel Sanó). But in Game 6 of the Showdown, it was Michael Restovich that emerged as the lineup’s hero. Restovich pinch-ran for […]
Results The 85-win 1987 Minnesota Twins were huge underdogs going into the ALCS against the juggernaut Detroit Tigers. Five games later, however, the Twins were heading back to the Twin Cities as American League champions for the first time since 1965! Welcoming them back to Mpls was a capacity crowd at the Metrodome. Not to […]
Once the managerial musical chairs ended, it’s been a relatively normal offseason for the Twins, with a few trades of minor leaguers before the Rule 5 draft deadline to add players to the 40-man roster and tendering contracts to arbitration-eligible players. And now we wait for the winter meetings! The Past Week on Twinkie Town: […]
Big ups to my loyal Rival Roundup readers. Feel free to start brainstorming a sort of “fandom name” for yourselves in the comments. The more provocative, the better, I’m thinking. That’s my early take here. I might change my mind after seeing some suggestions.
Here’s the Internet Archive link for tonight’s movie. Hit “play” at 7:30, and make jokes/comments as we go along! Paul Douglas (not the meteorologist) plays Billy Martin a mean cranky manager who berates and cusses out his players a lot. Janet Leigh is the reporter who challenges him to be a little bit of a […]
After jettisoning Michael Tonkin and Genesis Cabrera and coming to terms with reliever Justin Topa earlier today, the Twins have reportedly tendered contracts to all of their remaining arbitration-eligible players. That group includes C Ryan Jeffers, RHP Bailey Ober, RHP Joe Ryan, OF/DH Trevor Larnach, 3B Royce Lewis, RHP Cole Sands, and the recently acquired […]
According to Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune, the Twins acquired catcher Alex Jackson from the Orioles for AAA shortstop Payton Eeles. OF DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Additionally, they agreed to terms with reliever Justin Topa for the 2026 season Jackson, 29, is a former […]
Two days ago, I turned 40 years old. On one hand, my body is feeling it. Year #39 has been challenging from a health perspective. A severe noro-virus wiped me out at the beginning of the year, my 6’8” frame finally proved too much for my lower back (though strengthening PT has helped a lot!), […]
When you post on SB Nation, we don’t want you to miss all the conversations and responses that follow. So starting today, whenever a user replies to your comment or to your post on the Feed, you’ll see a notification at the top right corner of the page. And of course, this means that when […]
Neither Chuck Knoblauch nor Jackie Collum had any intent of letting the North Star Stature Showdown end at five games. Knoblauch’s five hits matched the number Collum allowed to the Tales, and the Stories walloped their higher-headed counterparts 9-1 to keep the Showdown going. While Collum burned through the Tales, the Stories opened the gates […]
With it being Rule 5 protection day, there was a flurry of minor moves around MLB and the Twins got involved as well. Reliever Eric Orze, a casualty of the Tampa Bay Rays’ roster crunch, was acquired for minor league pitcher Jacob Kisting. Addtionally, the Twins protected a slew of their own prospects from the […]
Results Unless one counts the Minneapolis Lakers of 1940s/50s NBA, no professional sporting unit had won a championship until Gary Gaetti tossed the horsehide to Kent Hrbek and put the 1987 World Series on ice. As we’ve already seen, the ‘91 Fall Classic may have had more drama. But the ‘87 squad will forever live […]
So, to recap the idea: you start the film at 7:30 sharp, on whatever devices you use, and we make comments as we go along. (A “smart” TV can easily access YouTube; my regular TV is hooked up to a Playstation that can access YouTube. Here’s the YouTube link we’ll be using to watch it.) […]
As we sit in that fun little zone between Halloween and the rest of the holiday season, so too does the Major League Baseball offseason schedule sit between the fervor of Game 7, and the gate-opening pandemonium of Genuine Transactions. We’re almost there, and with the GM Meetings this week and the more-famous Winter Meetings […]
After nabbing AL Central crowns in 2002, 2003, & 2004, the Minnesota Twins faltered in 2005. They weren’t horrible, but the Chicago White Sox sealed the deal. As a result, some hard decisions were made on fan favorites during the offseason to re-load for another competitive window. Let go in free agency were… Two significant […]
As I learned from Mike Poepping’s Baseball Reference page, the 14-game major leaguer’s surname is pronounced “PEPP-ing.” So I will refrain from making “pooping” jokes throughout the recap. But it was Poepping’s second-inning swing dumping a floater into the bleachers that let loose the scoring, the Tales hammering the Stories 11-5 to take a 3-1 […]
The Derek Shelton era is underway in Minnesota and his first coaching staff is beginning to take shape as his two major pitching coaches have been selected. According to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Pete Maki has been retained as pitching coach while LaTroy Hawkins will be brought in as bullpen coach, replacing Colby Suggs. […]
Results When #34 went off in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, I was on the brink of turning 6 years old. Did I understand the significance of the events transpiring? Certainly not. At that particular moment, my sports fandom was limited to kickball at recess and Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out on the NES. But […]
The Twins started out the week with Derek Shelton’s introductory press conference, where the Twins gave some indication that the fire sale over the trade deadline would not be continuing into the offseason. That being said, until Pablo López (or Joe Ryan) steps on the mound for Opening Day, everything is likely fluid for the Twins. […]
Hiya, folks! By not-so-popular demand, we’re starting TwinkieTown Movie Night! Cue up the movie at 7:30, watch and make comments! Yes, last week, I proposed 7:00. But one good soul suggested 7:30, and nobody disagreed, so 7:30 it is. Don’t worry, I’ll give you things to watch in the meantime. 1950’s The Jackie Robinson Story […]
If you were a baseball fan channel-surfing during the past month, there was a decent chance you’d tune into Canadian baseball programming of some kind. Without burying the lede, the Toronto Blue Jays played in their first World Series since they were back-to-back champs in 1992-1993. Alas, Toronto could not quite get Louie Varland his […]
With Sonny Gray on the mound, the Short Stories could keep the Tall Tales off the scoreboard. With Willians Astudillo at the plate, they could plate run after run of their own. The Stories entered the win column with a 10-3 win keyed by their starting pitcher and catcher. Gray pitched seven shutout innings before […]
The Twins chose to interrupt the World Series with the news that former bench coach and Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton would be returning to the organization as the new manager for 2026. Shelton was in Minnesota between 2018 and 2019, under both Paul Molitor and Rocco Baldelli, before going to Pittsburgh to manage for almost […]
Results George Strait once crooned “you’ve got to have an ace in the hole”. Well, in the winner-take-all Game 7 of the 1991 World Series, the Twins’ ace was a Black Jack. A ten-inning shutout of the Atlanta Braves for St. Paul’s own Jack Morris just might be the single greatest postseason pitching performance of […]
After rallying to win games six and seven and becoming the first repeat champions since the 2000s Yankees, the baseball world is out to take down the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. The work begins now in the offseason. It’s still unclear what the Minnesota Twins plan to do this offseason. They have the core talent […]