tshide

Thank you for a great story. May your grandfather rest in peace while you keep his memory alive. What a wonderful tribute.

I was in Ceder Rapids both Tuesday and Wednesday, making the drive from Des Moines both nights. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see Nolasco and Mauer for $11 a ticket, regardless of the seasons they are having. I was expecting a much bigger crowd Wednesday, but thought the rain throughout Iowa might have scared some people off. Ceder Rapids is a great place to watch a game, I prefer driving the two hours and watching the Kernals as opposed to the 15 minute drive to see the Iowa Cubs. The highlight for me on Wednesday's game was watching Burdi pitch. The ball makes a different sound when it hits the catcher's mit after leaving his hand. I will be back before the season is over. I think Mauer will be fine by the time the weekend is over, from my vantage point it looked like he and the other Kernals players were having fun.

Download attachment: Perkins_Glenn_High5_US_600.jpg Through my forty plus years following the Twins I have off and on had one player who stood out as my favorite. As I've grown older the reason for a player earning the designation of "favorite Twin" has evolved. The Carew Era - When I was a young baseball fan When I first tuned the radio to the Twins in the 70's it was Rod Carew. Rodney made a big impression. He was fast, smooth and graceful. He even made bunting cool. When he stepped into the box you expected something great to happen. When he got on base the fun escalated: he'd steal a base, pop up on his feet, steal another and maybe even steal home. Between the ages of nine and 15 I wanted my favorite player to do something spectacular and look cool doing it. Who better to imitate than Rodney? After the '78 season the Twins traded Carew to the California Angels for Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens and Ken Landreaux. That left a hole in the organizataion that would take years to fill. The Puckett Era – I’m Ready for a Winner After Carew was traded away the Twins actually increased their win total by nine games in 1979. But 82-80 is nothing to get real excited about. The next four years all ended with losing records. There was no longer that one player who could be the face of the franchise. Then six years after the Carew trade Kirby Puckett shows up. By this time (1984), I’m 21 and the Twins had not been in the playoffs since 1970. I was ready for a winner to lead the team. At first Kirby did not look like the Hall of Famer he became. He looked like a guy who would play a good center field, hit close to 0.300 but not hit for much power. He was a nice piece to a team that could someday be good, teaming with other young guys like Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti and Tom Brunanski. But Kirby did have something the other young Twins did not. He had a flair, a confidence, something that made you want to watch him. Then, in his third season (1986), he pops a home run in his seventh game. With the home run we saw that great bat flip, boy I miss that bat flip. He kept hitting more home runs, 31 in all that season after just four in 1327 plate appearances over the ’84 and ’85 seasons. So it was 1986 when I figured out the Twins really had something with this guy. Here was the new face of the franchise. I had another “favorite Twin.” Looking back on that team, Kirby’s breakout in ’86 seemed to pull the rest of the team with him and that was the jumping off point that pushed the team forward. The rest as they say is history: Two World Series titles, a career cut short by an eye injury, and sadly, his premature death in 2006. The Hunter Era - Back in contention In the late 90's I finally got to a point in my life when I could afford to travel to Minneapolis to catch games at the Dome. At that time I didn't have TwinsDaily to keep me updated on the Twins' prospects so it was not until early in 1998 when I noticed Torii Hunter. He was immediately fun to watch, lots of speed, great plays in the outfield and you could see the developing power. In 2000 he had to go down to AAA Salt Lake City for 55 games but when he came back he was in center field to stay. Hunter's emergence triggered a return to prominence for the Twins that was long overdue. From 1993 through 2000 we witnessed eight consecutive losing seasons. Puckett's retirement prior to the '96 season left another void in the Twins' leadership. It was fun to watch Paul Molitor finish his career with style. Chuck Knoblauch provided a great season in 1997 (117 runs and 62 stolen bases) but he was mostly auditioning for a free agent contract. Torii, led a group of Twins similar to Puckett's crew from the 80's. We all remember the names: Pierzynski, Mientkiewicz, Koskie, Jones, Lawton and Ortiz to name a few. But Hunter stood out. There was a play in the first game of the 2002 AL Division Series against the A's that cemented Hunter as my new "favorite Twin." The A's had already scored three runs in the first on two hits and two Twins errors. The Twins got one back in the second to make it 3-1. In the bottom of the second, A's first baseman Scott Hatteberg (of Money Ball fame) hit a pop fly between the pitcher's mound and home plate. The Twins' infielders, along with catcher AJ Pierzynski and pitcher Brad Radke looked at each other and let the ball drop for a hit. That scored a run, then Miguel Tejada reached on a throwing error by Cory Koskie, a guy who I think should have won a Gold Glove. A single by Eric Chavez scored Hatteberg and the A's were up 5-1. The TV cameras caught Hunter running in from center field screaming and yelling at his teammates. I can only guess what he said but you could tell he had everyone's attention. The Twins had a leader, Torii Hunter was not going to let his team lose. The Twins went on to win the game 7-5. Hunter did have one hit (a double) in the game, but the hitting stars were Pierzynski (four hits), Koskie (3-run HR) and Doug Mientkiewicz (solo HR). Radke went on to pitch five innings and get the win, help in relief was provided by Johan Santana, JC Romero and "Every Day" Eddie Guardado. Torii made his contribution by waking up his teammates. The Twins went on to win the series 3-2. Thanks to one of my buddies from North Dakota (you know who you are) I got to see the games (one win and one loss) at the Metrodome. Hunter and the Twins could not defeat the California Angels in the American League Championship series, but the they did win 94 games, a division title and a playoff series. In the six seasons from 2002 through 2007 (Hunter's last with the team) the Twins won four division titles and had five winning seasons. There were three more successful seasons (2008-2010) after he left for free agency but in my humble opinion Torii Hunter was the catalyst in the run from 2001-2010. So what now? After Hunter left for California and then landed in Detroit I still follow his career and enjoyed seeing him do well, probably more so than any other former Twin with the exception of Carew. The obvious and simple thing to do after 2007 was to make Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau, or both, my "favorite Twins". How could I go wrong? They both had won MVP awards, they were both great role models as far as anyone could tell. Both will be in the Twins Hall of Fame, and up until this year I thought Mauer would make it to Cooperstown after his retirement. That is another story. But by this time in my life I was looking for something more in a player. I was now a husband, father and approaching 50 years old. My priorities had changed, so had my appetite for sports. By this time I had gone from being a follower of pretty much every sport going to just focusing on the Twins and the Vikings, with the Vikings gradually losing my interest. My favorite player would have to be someone I could point out to my son and say, "That is the type of PERSON you should try to be." But wait a minute......... you don't get much better than Mauer and Morneau when it comes to quality people in sports, so what else is there? That gets me to Glen Perkins. It took me till this year (2014) to appreciate what he means to the Twins. I should have picked up on it sooner. He's always been the other native Minnesotan on the team. But since he became the closer during the 2012 season he's been money in the bank. What sealed it for me was earlier this year when he went to the Twins and initiated talks for an extension to his contract. He could have waited for free agency and made more money. He could have even waited around until the last year of his contract and used leverage against the Twins. But he took the initiative to stay in Minnesota. Finally, an athlete showed that it is not all about the money. After I learned about Perkins' contract extension I started reading articles about him. You have to love a guy who makes the statement "I would rather not play than play somewhere else." This from a Yahoo Sports article by Jeff Passan. As a Twins fan, what more can you ask for? When you follow Perkins on Twitter you see lots stuff about the Gophers, Wild, Vikings and other Minnesota teams. You can also tell that he (like most Twins) gets out often and works in the community. He also has a good sense of humor, case in point this Tweet from June 3 comparing himself to Ron Davis after nearly blowing a save against the Brewers. Another thing I learned, or was reminded of in this article by Aaron Gleeman on NBC Sports Hardball Talk, was that things were not always great for Perkins and the Twins. Following the 2009 season he filed a grievance against the club after it optioned him to AAA instead of keeping him on the major league disabled list. At this point it looked like he and the Twins might part ways. A lot of people would look at this situation and see it as another over-paid athlete having sour grapes about his contract. The old, "he should be happy to play a game for a living" argument. I see it as a guy who thought his employer was treating him unfairly and taking advantage of him, so he stood up for himself and took action. Again, this is something I'd like to see my son do when he gets to an age where he's making a career. Thankfully, Perkins stayed with the Twins, after struggling through 2010 with a 5.89 ERA in 13 games (all but one in relief). He bounced back in 2011, finding a role as a lefty specialist in the bullpen, appearing in 65 games and posting a 2.45 ERA. Midway through 2012 he took over the closer role and has been one of the best in the game to this day. So in Perkins you have a guy who is now a perennial all-star, he fell on hard times, stood up for himself, came back from injury and some sub-par seasons and is now at the top of his game. I never pretend to know what kind of person a professional athlete is. I don't know these people personally. I can only judge by what I see in the media. By all accounts Glen Perkins is a stand up guy, charitable, puts himself out there for the fans and media alike and is a husband and father. I'd be very proud if my boy grew up to be like him. He's my current "favorite Twin." More than forty years and four favorite Twins: Carew, Puckett, Hunter and Perkins. Who have been your favorite Twins over the years? Originally posted at IowaTwinsFan.com Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Harmon_Killebrew_1962-249x300.jpg Back in 2002 I traveled to Mt. Rushmore for the first time; since then I've always imagined what four faces I would put on a Twins Mt. Rushmore. I think we can refer to these four by their nicknames and you will know who I'm talking about. Killer You can’t be a Twins fan from my era and not have fond memories of Harmon Killebrew. His career was about over when I started following the Twins, but I remember the feeling when I found out he would play his final season in Kansas City. I was not a happy 12-year-old that day. As I grew into being a baseball fan I learned about the dominating numbers in the late 50’s and all through the 60’s, the towering home runs, the quick swing, the raw strength, all the All-Star Games and the MVP in 1969. Finally there is the classic stance and swing that most people think is the inspiration for the major league baseball logo. On top of all that, what puts Harmon at the top of the list for me is the kind of person he was. I learned long ago never to pretend to know what kind of person a celebrity or professional athlete is. The best I can do is enjoy what they do on the field. But I can make an exception with the “Killer”. I’ve gotten his autograph a couple times and he always takes his time, says a few words, shakes your hand and really tries to connect. You have to respect a guy that takes such pride in how his signature looks to the fan. No sports or entertainment star has a better autograph.Harmon Clayton Killebrew, Hall of fame player, better person. Download attachment: Rod_Carew_2008-150x150.jpg Rodney Harmon is the first player I think of in regards to the Twins, but when I was a kid Rod Carew was my guy. He was the player who was so much fun to imitate (or try to). We did not have many chances to watch the Twins on TV in the 70's, but when you watched Mr. Carew, the images of his game stayed with you. There was the way he stepped into the batter's box, placed a hand on the top of his batting helmet (the one with no ear flaps) and settled in. Next was the way he put his weight on the his back foot, then slowly, deliberately extended the arms a few times before the pitch came in, all the while having that huge wad of bubble gum and chew in his right cheek. He had that smooth classic swing slapping the ball wherever he wanted, swinging at the last instant. What other player made it so cool to bunt? I have a lifelong friend from back home named Mike, he was an even bigger fan of Rodney, he was always trying to drop that bunt down like Carew. Finally, on the bases, there was the smooth gait and the classic hook slide turning a single into a double and a double into a triple, and no one was better at stealing home.The first Twins game I went to was in June of 1977 and that was the year he batted .388 and won the MVP. I saw him go 4-5 with six RBI in a 19-12 win over the White Sox. You can't ask for a better game your first time at the ballpark. Seeing Rodney leave the Twins for the Angels was a blow bigger than when Harmon left for Kansas City. Rodney Cline Carew, the classic hitter. Download attachment: Kirby_Puckett_retired-150x150.jpg Puck As much fun as it was following the Twins as I grew up, I have to admit I was getting tired of all the mediocre seasons. We all know how the Twins developed great talents only to see them leave just as they approached their prime. That meant lots of 80-85 win seasons and no playoffs. That all changed when Kirby Puckett burst onto the scene. For me Kirby was just fun to watch. You always felt he was going to do something special and usually he did. More than any other Twin he was a winner. The Twins would not have won the series in 1987 or 1991 without Kirby. As he famously promised, if the guys jump on his back he'd bring them home. Not only could he deliver, but he did in the biggest moments. Kirby Puckett, he made it fun to be a Twins fan again. Download attachment: Tony_Oliva_2010-150x150.jpg Tony O Tony Oliva was another player near the end of his career when I started following the Twins. As I saw Tony at Twins Fest, watched him make appearances on Twins broadcasts, heard him interviewed and listened to people talk about him, I learned that he is a special personality and a big part of Twins' history. When you study baseball you appreciate what a great talent he was. In a ten year stretch from 1964 to 1973 he batted .300 or better seven times and was never lower than .289. He also won three batting titles in that span and five seasons with 90+ RBI. A great outfielder with speed and power, it has been well documented how knee injuries shortened his career. I think he should be in the Hall of Fame; too bad we can only imagine what he might have been. However, Tony O gave the Twins great years and has stayed with the club to this day giving us the gift of his great personality and style. Tony Pedro Oliva, put him in the Hall of Fame. These are personal choices for me and I’m sure everyone has different opinions for their top four Twins; I’d love to hear them. I know my 7-year-old son would pick Joe Mauer, Joe Mauer, Joe Mauer and Joe Mauer. I thought about doing a list of honorable mentions, but I would rather hear other people's ideas. Originally posted at http://iowatwinsfan....re/<br /><br /> ~~~ Since the Twins beat the Tigers 5-3 yesterday (Saturday), you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code on Sunday. ~~~ Click here to view the article

Originally posted at IowaTwinsFan.com Through my forty plus years following the Twins I have off and on had one player that stood out as my favorite. As I've grown older the reason for a player earning the designation of "favorite Twin" has evolved. The Carew Era - When I was a young baseball fan When I first tuned the radio to the Twins in the 70's it was Rod Carew. Rodney made a big impression, he was fast, smooth and graceful. He even made bunting cool. When he stepped into the box you expected something great to happen. When he got on base the fun escalated, he'd steal a base, pop up on his feet, steal another and maybe even steal home. Between the ages of nine and 15 I wanted my favorite player to do something spectacular and look cool doing it, who better to imitate than Rodney. After the '78 season the Twins traded Carew to the California Angels for Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens and Ken Landreaux. That left a hole in the organizataion that would take years to fill. The Puckett Era – I’m Ready for a Winner After Carew was traded away the Twins actually increased their win total by nine games in 1979. But 82-80 is nothing to get real excited about. The next four years all ended with losing records. There was no longer that one player that can be the face of the franchise. Then six years after the Carew trade Kirby Puckett shows up. By this time (1984), I’m 21 and the Twins had not been in the playoffs since 1970. I was ready for a winner to lead the team. At first Kirby did not look like the hall of famer he became. He looked like a guy that would play a good center field, hit close to 0.300 but not hit for much power. He was a nice piece to a team that could someday be good, teaming with other young guys like Kent Hrbek, Frank Viola, Gary Gaetti and Tom Brunanski. But Kirby did have something that the other young Twins did not. He had a flare, a confidence, something that made you want to watch him. Then, in his third season (1986) he pops a home run in his seventh game. With the home run we saw that great bat flip, boy I miss that bat flip. He kept hitting more home runs, 31 in all that season after just four in 1327 plate appearances over the ’84 and ’85 seasons. So it was 1986 when I figured out the Twins really had something with this guy. Here was the new face of the franchise; I had another “favorite Twin.” Looking back on that team, Kirby’s breakout in ’86 seemed to pull the rest of the team with him, that was the jumping off point that pushed the team forward. The rest as they say is history, two World Series titles, a career cut short by an eye injury, and sadly, his pre-mature death in 2006. The Hunter Era - Back in contention In the late 90's I finally got to a point in my life when I could afford to travel to Minneapolis to catch games at the dome. At that time I didn't have TwinsDaily to keep me updated on the Twins' prospects so it was not until early in 1998 when I noticed Torii Hunter. He was immediately fun to watch, lots of speed, great plays in the outfield and you could see the developing power. In 2000 he had to go down to AAA Salt Lake City for 55 games but when he came back he was in center field to stay. Hunter's emergence triggered a return to prominence for the Twins that was long overdue. From 1993 through 2000 we witnessed eight consecutive losing seasons. Puckett's retirement prior to the '96 season left another void in the Twins' leadership. It was fun to watch Paul Molitor finish his career with style. Chuck Knoblauch provided a great season in 1997 (117 runs and 62 stolen bases) but he was mostly auditioning for a free agent contract. Torii, lead a group to the Twins similar to Puckett's crew from the 80's. We all remember the names: Pierzynski, Mientkiewicz, Koskie, Jones, Lawton, and Ortiz to name a few. But Hunter stood out. There was a play in the first game of the 2002 AL Division series against the A's that cemented Hunter as my new "favorite Twin." The A's already scored three runs in the first on two hits and two Twins errors. The Twins got one back in the second to make it 3-1. In the bottom of the second, A's first baseman Scott Hatteberg (of Money Ball fame) hit a pop fly between the pitcher's mound and home plate. The Twins' infielders, along with catcher AJ Pierzynski and pitcher Brad Radke looked at each other and let the ball drop for a hit. That scored a run, then Miguel Tejada reached on a throwing error by Cory Koskie, a guy who I think should have won a gold glove. A single by Eric Chavez scored Hatteberg and the A's were up 5-1. The TV cameras caught Hunter running in from center field screaming and yelling at his teammates. I can only guess what he said but you could tell he had everyone's attention. The Twins had a leader, Torii Hunter was not going to let his team lose. The Twins went on to win the game 7-5. Hunter did have one hit (a double) in the game, but the hitting stars were Pierzynski (four hits), Koskie (3-run HR) and Doug Mientkiewicz (solo HR). Radke went on to pitch five innings and get the win, help in relief was provided by Johan Santana, JC Romero and "Every Day" Eddie Guardado. Torii made his contribution by waking up his teammates. The Twins went on to win the series 3-2. Thanks to one of my buddies from North Dakota (you know who you are) I got to see the games (one win and one loss) at the Metrodome. Hunter and the Twins could not defeat the California Angels in the American League Championship series, but the Twins did win 94 games, a division title and a playoff series. In the six seasons from 2002 through 2007 (Hunter's last with the team) the Twins won four division titles and had five winning seasons. There were three more successful seasons (2008-2010) after he left for free agency but in my humble opinion Torii Hunter was the catalyst in the run from 2001-2010. So what now? After Hunter left for California and then landed in Detroit I still followed his career and enjoyed seeing him do well, probably more so than any other former Twin with the exception of Carew. The obvious and simple thing to do after 2007 was to make Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau or both my "favorite Twins". How could I go wrong? They both had won MVP awards, they were both great role models as far as anyone can tell. Both will be in the Twins Hall of Fame, and up until this year I thought Mauer would make it to Cooperstown after his retirement. That is another story. But by this time in my life I was looking for something more in a player. I was now a husband, father and approaching 50 years old. My priorities had changed so had my apatite for sports. By this time I had gone from being a follower of pretty much every sport going to just focusing on the Twins and the Vikings, with the Vikings gradually losing my interest. My favorite player would have to be someone I could point out to my son and say, "That is the type of PERSON you should try to be." But wait a minute......... you don't get much better than Mauer and Morneau when it comes to quality people in sports, so what else is there? That gets me to Glen Perkins. It took me till this year (2014) to appreciate what he means to the Twins. I should have picked up on it sooner. He's always been the other native Minnesotan on the team. But since he became the closer during the 2012 season he's been money in the bank. What sealed it for me was earlier this year when he went to the Twins and initiated an extension to his contract. He could have waited for free agency and made more money. He could have even waited around until the last year of his contract and used leverage against the Twins. But he took the initiative to stay in Minnesota, finally, an athlete showed that it is not all about the money. After I learned about Perkins' contract extension I started reading articles about him. You have to love a guy that makes the statement "I would rather not play than play somewhere else." This from a Yahoo Sports article by Jeff Passan. As a Twins fan, what more can you ask for? When you follow Perkins on Twitter you see lots stuff about the Gophers, Wild, Vikings and other Minnesota teams. You can also tell that he (like most Twins) gets out often and works in the community. He also has a good sense of humor, case in point this Tweet from June 3 comparing himself to Ron Davis after nearly blowing a save against the Brewers. Another thing I learned, or was reminded of in this article by Aaron Gleeman on NBC Sports Hardball Talk was that things were not always great for Perkins and the Twins. Following the 2009 season he filed a grievance with club after it optioned him to AAA instead of keeping him on the major league disabled list. At this point it looked like he and the Twins might part ways. A lot of people would look at this situation and see it as another over paid athlete having sour grapes over his contract. The old, "he should be happy to play a game for a living" argument. I see it as a guy who thought his employer was treating him unfairly and taking advantage of him, so he stood up for himself and took action. Again, this is something I'd like to see my son do when he gets to an age where he's making a career. Thankfully, Perkins stayed with the Twins, after struggling through 2010 with a 5.89 ERA in 13 games (all but one in relief). He bounced back in 2011, finding a role as a lefty specialist in the bull pen, appearing in 65 games and posting a 2.45 ERA. Midway through 2012 he took over the closer role and has been one of the best in the game to this day. So in Perkins you have a guy that is now a perennial all-star, he fell on hard times, stood up for himself, came back from injury and some sub-par seasons and is now at the top of his game. I never pretend to know what kind of person a professional athlete is, I don't know these people personally. I can only judge by what I see in the media. By all rights Glen Perkins is a stand up guy, charitable and puts himself out there for the fans and media and is a husband and father. I'd be very proud if my boy grew up to be like him. He's my current "favorite Twin." More than forty years and four favorite Twins: Carew, Puckett, Hunter and Perkins. Who have been your favorite Twins over the years?

I agree about Escobar he should stay in the lineup and be given a chance to prove he can hit. If he falters then Santana should be given a shot. I think in the long run we will see Santana as the Twins starting SS but for now Escobar deserves a chance to prove himself.

I found it hard to land of one pitcher that stood out from the rest in Twins' history. I think Johan might be the best, followed closely by Viola, Blyleven, Kaat and Perry. I remember Blyleven and Kaat but not so much Perry. Johan was just so dominant for about 5 years, and yes, he should have had three Cy Young awards. I think Bert is dominant personality because of his years in the TV booth, and now that he's finally in the Hall of Fame. Kaat should be in the Hall too in my opinion.

Of course, he is my #5. For me I don't think I could move Tony O off the list because he did a special thing for a friend of mine back in his playing days. One of my childhood friends had health problems and was getting treatment at Mayo when he was about 6 years old. While the doctors where talking to his parents his younger brother was in the playroom........ when his mother came to get him she noticed a man playing with him that she didn't know. Well, his father knew who he was, it was Tony Oliva. He had been at Mayo getting treatment on his knees and took it upon himself to spend some time with the boy. They have some great pictures of Tony with the family. If someone else like Mauer proves himself worth in the future I'd have a chisel out a new space.

This link will take you to Twins photos I took in 2013: http://iowatwinsfan.com/twins-photos-2013-2/

Originally posted at http://iowatwinsfan.com/my-twins-mt-rushmore/ Back in 2002 I traveled to Mt. Rushmore for the first time, since then I've always imagined what four faces I would put in a Twins Mt. Rushmore. So I'm going to give it a shot here. Unfortunately Minnesota does not have a suitable mountain to carve out four faces like we have in South Dakota so we'll have to use our imagination. To Twins fans I think we can refer to these four by their nicknames and you will know who I'm talking about. Killebrew from the back cover of Baseball Digest, 1962 Killer You can’t be a Twins fan from my era and not have fond memories of Harmon Killebrew. His career was about over when I started following the Twins, but I remember the feeling when I found out he would play his final season in Kansas City, I was not a happy 12 year old that day. But as I grew into being a baseball fan I learned about the dominating numbers in the late 50’s and all through the 60’s, the towering home runs, the quick swing, the raw strength, all the all-star games and the MVP in 1969. Finally there is the classic stance and swing that most people think is the inspiration for the major league baseball logo.With all of that what puts Harmon at the top of the list for me is the kind of person he is. I learned long ago never to pretend to know what kind of person a celebrity or professional athlete is. The best I can do is enjoy what they do on the field. But I can make an exception with the “Killer”. I’ve gotten his autograph a couple of times and he always takes his time, says a few words, shakes your hand and really tries to connect. You have to respect a guy that takes such pride in how his signature looks to the fan. No sports or entertainment star has a better autograph.Harmon Clayton Killebrew, Hall of fame player, better person.Rod Carew in 2008 Rodney Harmon is the first player I think of in regards to the Twins, but when I was a kid Rod Carew was my guy. He was the player that was so much fun to imitate (or try to). We did not have many chances to watch the Twins on TV in the 70's, but when you watched Mr. Carew, the images of his game stayed with you. There was the way he stepped into the batter's box, placed a hand on the top of his batting helmet (the one with no ear flaps) and settled in. Next was the way he put his weight on the his back foot, then slowly, deliberately extended the arms a few times before the pitch came in, all the while having that huge wad of bubble gum and chew in hes right cheek. He had that smooth classic swing slapping the ball wherever he wanted, swinging at the last instant. What other player made it so cool to bunt? I have a lifelong friend from back home named Mike, he was an even bigger fan of Rodney, he was always trying to drop that bunt down like Carew. Finally, on the bases, there was the smooth gate and the classic hook slide turning a single into a double and a double into a triple, and no one was better at stealing home.The first Twins game I went to was in June of 1977, that was the year he batted 0.388 and won the MVP. I saw him go 4-5 with six RBI in a 19-12 win over the White Sox. You can't ask for a better game your first time at the ballpark. Seeing Rodney leave the Twins for the Angels was a blow bigger than when Harmon left for Kansas City.Rodney Cline Carew, the classic hitter.Kirby Puckett at his retirement in 1997 Puck As much fun as it was following the Twins as I grew up, I have to admit I was getting tired of all the mediocre seasons. We all know how the Twins developed great talent only to see them leave just as they approached their prime. That meant lots of 80-85 win seasons and no playoffs. That all changed when Kirby Puckett burst onto the scene. For me Kirby was just fun to watch. You always felt like he was going to do something special and usually he did. More than any other Twin he was a winner. The Twins would not have won the series in 1987 or 1991 without Kirby. As he famously promised, if the guys jump on his back he'd bring them home. Not only could he deliver but he did in the biggest moments.Kirby Puckett, he made it fun to be a Twins fan again.Tony Oliva in 2010 Tony O Tony Oliva was another player near the end of his career when I started following the Twins. As I saw Tony at Twins Fest, watched him make appearances on Twins broadcasts, heard him interviewed and listened to people talk about him, I learned that he is a special personality and a big part of Twins' history. When you study baseball you appreciate what a great talent he was. In a ten year stretch from 1964 to 1973 he batted 0.300 or better seven times and was never lower than 0.289. He also had three batting titles in that span and five seasons with 90+ RBI. A great outfielder and speed and power, it has been well documented how knee injuries shorted his career. I think he should be in the Hall of Fame, too bad we can only imagine what he might have been. However, Tony O gave the Twins great years and has stayed with the club to this day giving us the gift of his great personality and style.Tony Pedro Oliva, put him in the Hall of Fame. These are personal choices for me and I’m sure everyone has different opinions for their top four Twins; I’d love to hear them. I know my seven year old son would pick Joe Mauer, Joe Mauer, Joe Mauer and Joe Mauer. I thought about doing a list of honorable mentions, but I would rather hear other people's ideas.

Hello all I've created a new Twins blog at www.iowatwinsfan.com. Let me know what you think, I'm new to this so I would appreciate any comments and advice. Thanks and Go Twins