I think that the Twins Winter Caravan is pretty cool. I've been fortunate to go to these events 5-6 times over the past decade. It's a great way to get people excited about baseball again, even in the cold weather.

 

The Caravan starts on Monday and will go over the next two weeks, of course, it leads right up to Twins Fest.

 

Unfortunately, this year the nearest Twins stop is over 2 hours from where I live, so I won't be able to partake.

 

Here is a link to where the Twins will be and who will be there: http://www.mlb.com/min/community/winter_caravan.jsp

 

Share your stories from the caravan if you go. Let us know what you're hearing and any great interactions.

What is with all the private stops? I planned to go to the stop in Des Moines tomorrow until I found out it was a private stop over the lunch hour. What a rip. Seems like it would be for a business lunch or something, especially with Molitor being the guy coming.

I was planning on going to the stop in Des Moines tomorrow too, but it's a private event. I wish they would disclose that ahead of time (private) or just don't list a stop that isn't open to the public on your schedule.

Very fair point. I assume those are either schools, nursing homes or radio stations. Many of those don't say what they are.

I've been in Des Moines for about six years, and the Caravan has only been here once. I'm not sure what the average turnout is for these things (obviously the public events), but I felt like our turnout was pretty good. I just kind of thought they'd want to try to throw their hat in the ring a bit harder versus the other 5 'blackout' teams that are also in the area for us. It just seems like they concede the area to the Cubs, Cardinals, Royals, White Sox, and Brewers.

 

/rant

 

In all seriousness though, I wish they'd make a bigger effort to promote down here. They were doing a pretty good job when Target Field opened but now its pretty much completely went away.

If you're interested, I've posted a number of quotes (and a few not-so-great pictures) from last night's Twins Caravan/Kernels Hot Stove Banquet. Comments from Molitor, Jake Mauer, Duensing and Pressly.

 

http://knuckleballsblog.com/2014/01/13/twins-caravankernels-hot-stove/