My Experience As a Twins Fan in the Land of Smiles

Although baseball has a long and rich tradition in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and most recently Taiwan (where they’re now playing games) it hasn’t exactly taken off in the Southeast region. After some googling, I learned that some form of youth baseball is played in Bangkok, but I imagine it’s mainly children of ex-pats. I was more surprised to learn that Thailand has a National Baseball Team and Johnny Damon (who’s never lived in Thailand but has a Thai mother) even joined the team in 2012 for the World Baseball Classic qualifiers. There’s even video evidence (I can’t guarantee the quality of play):

So, while there might be a few baseball fans scattered around Bangkok I’ve yet to run into one out in the boonies where I live (the Northeast). Anytime I mention baseball to a Thai I have to accompany it with my impersonation of swinging a baseball bat or they think I’m talking about basketball (which is somewhat popular). Remarkably, I do know two other Minnesotans in my neck of the jungle (out of a sample size of about five Americans!), but one happens to be a die-hard Timberwolves fan with no interest in baseball while the other only follows the Vikings (the last time I talked to him he asked me if Mauer was still good). All this is a long way of saying there’s no Twins talk to be had at the water cooler (on the plus side there’s also no Yankees fans).

This makes me all the more grateful for the Twins Daily community. Before I began writing for the site I lurked (that word makes me feel like a creep) for many years, reading every article that was published as well as thoroughly enjoying the comments section. Even if I didn’t actively participate, Twins Daily was the first site I went to 365 days a year and it still is.

Unfortunately, during my first stint in Thailand (during the 2004 and ’05 seasons) the baseball gods had yet to converge and unleash their greatest creation in Twins Daily. That was really no loss though, as the primitive nature of the internet at that time in Thailand made it all but impossible to do anything online (I could rarely even fire off an email before the internet would cut out). For a few years following the Twins was impossible, but the 2006 team was a nice homecoming present.

Times have changed. The internet is much faster and everyone takes pictures of what they eat. Since returning to Thailand in 2012 (presumably for good), following the Twins has been much easier. With mlb.com I’m able to watch the majority of the games, just with breakfast rather than post dinner. We’re 12 hours ahead of Minnesota time (I reside in the future!) so a 7 p.m. start time in Minnesota is a 7 a.m. game here. This works great for me as the early sunrise, multitudes of roosters, and hot weather are very conducive to rising at the crack of dawn. By first pitch I’ve already had time to exercise, eat breakfast, shower and glug down at least a cup of coffee or two. I’m a morning person and there’s nothing better than starting the day off with a baseball game (working in the late afternoon and evening makes this possible).

Baseball in the morning also means I don’t have to struggle to stay awake for extra- inning affairs but early afternoon games do present a bit of a quandary. I can either wake up in the middle of the night to watch the game or get a much appreciated goodnight's sleep and catch the highlights in the morning. It usually boils down to the magnitude of the game and time of year (I’m hungrier for baseball in April), but I did write one game recap in the middle of the night.

Getting my kids interested and invested in the Twins is one of the difficulties of living abroad. My son knows of a few players (mainly Sano because he hits dingers and Buxton because he flies) but I’ve had little success interesting a 10- and 7-year-old in a slow moving, three hour (plus) long game that no one besides their dad seems to care about (my wife was literally bored to tears at the one and only game I ever brought her to). I think baseball is a game you probably have to have played to love and just hitting a few balls in the backyard only goes so far (though thanks to the food and other side attractions my children don't mind catching a game or two when we’re back to visit). I was, however, offered a glimmer of hope the other night as my daughter watched the first three innings of Game One of the ’91 World Series and seemed to enjoy herself before falling asleep (she also liked that my brother named his hamster after Kirby Puckett – sadly Lil’ Kirby, like big Kirby, is no longer with us).

That pretty much sums up my experience as a Twins fan from afar. I can’t say enough how grateful I am to the Twins Daily community – founders, writers, readers, moderators, editors, and commenters for creating and enlivening a space where we can all get together and share our love for the Minnesota Twins. Hopefully sometime in the future, when we can once again enjoy ballgames or social gatherings, I’ll make in back for an event or a game and meet some of you in person. Until then, I’ll see you here!

Are you a Twins fan from abroad (or outside Minnesota)? If so, please take a moment to share your location and experience in the comment section. Thanks!

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