Article: Twins Daily Contest: What Would You Give?

[John Bonnes]

What would you give up to win it all? What Faustian deal would you strike? That’s my question for the Twins Daily community today. And I get to play the Devil.By now, you know that in Damn Yankees (which starts tonight at the Ordway), the protagonist offers up his soul to turn into the hero the Senators need to win the pennant. Ultimately, he battles to hang onto both and especially his marriage. That’s all crazy territory, but what if….

 

We’ll start small, what if you had to give up both Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano? You don’t get to watch their careers for the next decade, but you get a special year this year. Would you give up a decade of playoff appearances with a chance to win the World Series for nine 90-loss seasons but a single year in which it was guaranteed?

 

Would you trade that one magical year, right now, if it meant you would never see another World Series championship? Or a championship for any of your other teams?

 

Those seem pragmatic, so let’s go a little further with baseball. Would you trade a championship for Twins Daily? Would you trade it for no more sports talk radio? Would you trade a World Series if it meant the Twins had to go back to playing in the Metrodome? Never ever attending another game at Target Field? Never being able to watch a Twins game, period? Would you give up your team for that one glorious season? Would you be willing to give up baseball completely?

 

Let’s leave the realm of sports. How much would you pay? (How much have you already paid?) I want a cash figure. Would you give up your car for a year? What other sacrifices would you be willing to make? Would you give up your favorite food? Beer?

 

Let’s get closer to a Faustian contract. Where would you be willing to live for the thrill of a championship? Which of your friends or coworkers would you be willing to never see again (not have them hurt, just not be able to contact)? Would you give up your pet?

 

What do you get in return? Do you get to go to the winning game with your kid? Or listen to it while fishing with your dad? Do you get a night again with your deceased grandma, who listened to games with you as a kid? Is she young again? Are you? Or are you the ballboy or girl, on the field, jumping up and down deliriously?

 

Take your stab below in the comments. The top handful of answers will get a free Twins Daily pint glass from one of the Winter Meltdown events, with me playing the part of the Devil as judge. Let’s see just what you can come up with.

 

Click here to view the article

[John Bonnes]

I'm going to think about this overnight, but my initial reaction to it is this....

- pet is too far. 

- there are absolutely some people I know that I would be willing to un-know if it meant a championship.

- Twins Daily is too much. I'm sure it's not for some of you...

- I would not be willing to give up writing. 

- I would not be willing to give up baseball.

- I would not be willing to give up Target Field - but I might for a temporary ban, like five years. 

- I would sign up for 9 90-loss seasons for one magical one. 

[tupaput]

I would give up wearing Twins apparel for life if it meant they won a World Series.

 

I would give up drinking cheap whiskey, because champion fans deserve better. 

 

I would sign up for 4 more 90 loss seasons if it meant a decade of dominance. 

 

I'd watch Ricky Nolasco pitch until he died of old age if it meant a World Series.

 

I would give up watching movies for life as well. Maybe TV Shows for five years.

[DaveW]

I would give up watching the NFL ever again if the Vikings won a super bowl.

[Thegrin]

I wouldn't give up anything for a guaranteed World Championship.  The games are the things that are important to me. The players are the thing that is important. The good players the good plays. The bad players and the dropped balls. Even Aaron Hicks.  It is the season that is important. The story that the season tells.  The thrill of watching Buxton running the bases or the agony of watching Joe strike out.  The story is the thing and I would never trade it for a guaranteed World Series Triumph.  Never. 

[formerly33]

 

I would give up watching the NFL ever again if the Vikings won a super bowl.

Hey, nobody said you had to give up anything after the championship!

[Buford_T_Justice]

It sounds like you're asking if I would like to be a Marlins fan. World Series champs one year and then comic tragedy the next. No thanks.

 

I've been a fan of this team since my family moved to Minnesota in 1973. I remember Rod Carew chasing .400. I remember a Kirby Puckett homerun that landed 5 rows in front of me and thinking, "that's cool, he doesn't hit many homers" back when he really didn't. And of course I remember the World Series victories, but they are just part of the long history of the Twins.

 

I don't need the Devil for one glorious season. I have faith that the Twins can take down the Damn Yankees without any help.

[USAFChief]

I would give up the 91 WS crown, in exchange for my kids to somehow be able to experience the 87 World Series.

 

My kids have grown up as Twins and Viking fans, and they had no choice in the matter...dad sorta forced it on em. And they've never had the chance to watch a season end in a championship. I'd like someday for that to happen.

 

If necessary, I'd throw in whatever the Lynx have won.

[BobAzar]

I could never give up watching/listening/going to Twins games for a championship. I enjoy that too much. I would take a decade of 90-100 losses for a championship. Bad baseball is still better than no baseball. 

 

ETA: I would also have my Twins tattoo scrapped off with a dull knife for a championship for which my family and I were in attendance. 

Edited June 16, 2015 by drbob524

[70charger]

I thought about this for a bit, but I think that knowing your team would win would take away all the fun. I prefer the non-Faustian system we've got now, even if it means waiting a lot longer.

[70charger]

 

 

I'd watch Ricky Nolasco pitch until he died of old age if it meant a World Series.

 

 

You should have struck this bargain with the devil before the Twins signed him. Now we don't even get a ring!

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I thought about this for a bit, but I think that knowing your team would win would take away all the fun. I prefer the non-Faustian system we've got now, even if it means waiting a lot longer.

That's my take too.

 

The one exception might be a Yankees playoff series, around 2009-2010. By that point, I probably would have given up something for a guaranteed win against them, and then taken our chances in the rest of the playoffs. (Or just one game win, and take our chances in the series.)

 

I actually remember, in the 2009 Game 163, promising to give up complaining about various players if they could win the game for the Twins. The parameters were vague, though, so I am not sure if it was very binding or enforceable.

[Craig Arko]

Nothing. I will continue to enjoy the successes and failures of the teams I like, but they're sure as heck not my life.

 

Now if it was to be on the first manned mission to Mars, otoh, then my interest would be piqued.

[kellyvance]

I wouldn't give up a thing.  May the best team win, and it is supposed to be that way.

That is the beauty of sports. 

[Blake]

What would I give up for a sure thing? Since It would mean the end of ripping management, players, random fans, TD mods, posters and the like, I'm not willing to give up anything. Sorry, that's just a bridge too far.

 

In fact, the suggestion borders on heresy.

[DocBauer]

Brian Duensing

[Sam Morley]

 

I would give up watching the NFL ever again if the Vikings won a super bowl.

This. I would even rephrase to say that I would be relieved of ever watching the NFL again if the Vikings won a super bowl.

 

I also agree with this:

I wouldn't give up anything for a guaranteed World Championship.  The games are the things that are important to me. The players are the thing that is important. The good players the good plays. The bad players and the dropped balls. Even Aaron Hicks.  It is the season that is important. The story that the season tells.  The thrill of watching Buxton running the bases or the agony of watching Joe strike out.  The story is the thing and I would never trade it for a guaranteed World Series Triumph.  Never. 

It wouldn't be magical if it were guaranteed. The magic is believing in your chances, maybe even against odds. 

 

I would give up, without hesitation but heavy heart, any of the following: Byron Buxton, Twins Daily, a Twins winning record for the next 10 years, etc, in exchange for the permanent removal of video review/challenges, the infinite promise of no pitch clock or any other clock to "speed up the game", the removal of the all-star game deciding home field advantage in the world series, and an infinitely replenishing veto card for any other nonsense the league/espn cooks up to mar the game.

[jimmer]

Is this kind of like the question, 'What would you do for a Klondike bar?' :-)

[Thrylos]

I'd sell Ryan's, St Peter's, Vavra's and Antony's souls to the devil.

 

Seems about right...

[Puckett34]

 

Brian Duensing

 

Naturally.  He must be involved in any trade.

 

As for what I would give up.  I don't know.  I'm too young to remember the '87 championship and vaguely remember the '91 one.  So all I really remember is the end of the Kelly era and all of Gardy's.  So really all I know is solid regular seasons and bowing out quickly to the Yankees.  A championship that I could really remember would be oh, so sweet.

 

Back to what I would give up.  I would give up my unrelenting pessimism that the worst can and will happen every year for the Twins and Vikings if it meant they each would win just one championship each.  It's worse for the Vikings for me than the Twins as far as my pessimism goes.

[Halsey Hall]

I'd give up playing golf one day a week.

 

And, as much as I'd hate it, I'd get off of Poof's ass. 

[ThejacKmp]

 

I would give up the 91 WS crown, in exchange for my kids to somehow be able to experience the 87 World Series.

My kids have grown up as Twins and Viking fans, and they had no choice in the matter...dad sorta forced it on em. And they've never had the chance to watch a season end in a championship. I'd like someday for that to happen.

If necessary, I'd throw in whatever the Lynx have won.

 

Interesting that you would give up the 1991 for the 1987.  Granted I was three in 87 and seven in 91 so 91 is the one that sticks for me but even if I were older, that 1991 World Series itself is so incredibly amazing (I rewatch games 6 and 7 every year before the Twins season) that I would imagine most Twins fans would trade 87 so their kids could experience 91.  No?

[theBOMisthebomb]

I'd give up anything (as long as it's legal, moral, and ethical) for a Twins World Series championship or a Vikings Super Bowl victory. Especially for the Vikes since they don't have one yet. There is no next year or worrying about the next decade - ask the 1998 Vikings.

[Platoon]

I may sound like a curmudgeon, maybe age has softened me. But, I would not give up much if anything. To me it's not the winning one last game, it's about playing well, being competitive, and of course being entertaining. Seasons that run into late September with you watching other box scores to see how the Sox or Tigers did. Games 163's. Great players. If you don't it all, you don't win it all. 7 months of effort, and excitement should not be diminished by losing the last game of the year. Sure it'll suck for a few days, but think of how enjoyable getting up every morning and checking scores was all summer. as my four yr old granddaughter says "it's not all about winning"

[USAFChief]

Interesting that you would give up the 1991 for the 1987.  Granted I was three in 87 and seven in 91 so 91 is the one that sticks for me but even if I were older, that 1991 World Series itself is so incredibly amazing (I rewatch games 6 and 7 every year before the Twins season) that I would imagine most Twins fans would trade 87 so their kids could experience 91.  No?

It was a tough call...made tougher by the fact I was at games 1& 2 in '91, and as you say because the 91 WS was one of the best ever.

 

But to me, all of that comes behind 87, because 87 was the first. It hadn't happened before, and that's the experience I want for my kids.

[ThejacKmp]

 

It was a tough call...made tougher by the fact I was at games 1& 2 in '91, and as you say because the 91 WS was one of the best ever.

But to me, all of that comes behind 87, because 87 was the first. It hadn't happened before, and that's the experience I want for my kids.

 

So it's kind of like your high school girlfriend.  You never wanted to marry her and you understand that your wife is significantly better but there's nothing quite like your first and you'll always be a little nostalgic. 

Edited June 18, 2015 by ThejacKmp