“Excuse me, sir? Would you be so kind as to watch my bag so I can catch the coffee shop before it closes? I’ll gladly buy you a drink too.”

That was roughly what a friend of mine said to a strapping young stranger at the Minneapolis airport one late night. The man agreed and while she went for coffee, he even defended her bag against her friend who arrived to pick her up. How was he to know?

Upon returning my friend said to him, “You would do well as a security guard if you need a job.”

“Thanks, but I have a pretty good job. I play for the Twins.”

That’s a rough paraphrase of a true-life encounter with Michael Cuddyer. (This same friend had a much less impressive run-in with a certain Bronx shortstop) He didn’t stop to say, “Don’t you know who I am?” and he didn’t refuse a damsel in decaffeinated distress. He simply did as he was asked.

That, in a nutshell, is why Michael Cuddyer has been my favorite player for the Minnesota Twins over the last decade. He always seems to be smiling. He mentors younger teammates. He is a fundraising rock star for local charities. When it comes to his play on the field, he frustrates a lot of fans with his high number of double plays and relentless belief that he can hit that low and outside breaking ball. But he does what he’s asked to do for his team. The problem for a raving fan like myself is that he’s now doing all of that for the Colorado Rockies.

For all his faults, Cuddy was the one guy on last year’s team who went out there every day and played his heart out. While our superstars watched from the bench or the training room, he was playing the role of J.B. Weld, solidifying any spot on the field that was needed on a given day. How does a team replace someone like that? I don’t know.

What this blog will be concerned with, however, is how this Twins fan will replace a man like Cuddy. He’s gone, and while I’ll always be a Cuddyer fan, I need a new favorite Twin. So, week by week I’ll examine each Minnesota Twins player to get to the heart of who they are both on the field and off of it. With luck, I’ll find another player that has the talent, heart, and charisma of the man who moved to the mountains.

Think you have the answer? Feel free to contact me if you want to convince me that your favorite player should be my new favorite. I like a good argument.

Life without Cuddy. Who should it be?

People like Cuddy are practically irreplaceable, so I completely agree with your blog post. It's gonna take a lot to "replace" him. If I figure out who that guy is, I'll let you know. It doesn't mean there aren't some awesome players on the 2012 Twins roster, it's just that there is a huge empty hole (charismatically) that Cuddy left behind. Thank God the Rockies are in the NL - so I can still be a Cuddy fan! GO TWINS!

Wish i could tell you who it should be.

I wasn't that big a Cuddyer fan but I did come to have a lot more appreciation for him last year.

I feel a very big disconnect from this team right now. I'm hoping that feeling goes away as we see more of them and learn more about them but right now they leave me blah.