While the 2013 Twins season didn’t exactly shed light on how to put a winning team on Target Field (unless you were talking about the visitors), it did give us some quality moments.
Those moments may have been good, they may have been bad, they may have made you shake your head and laugh, quickly followed by a “only the Twins would do something like that.”
We’ve compiled BMTN’s favorite highlights and lowlights from the 2013 season, as well as the top quotes of the year, and put them here for one of the more entertaining posts we’ve done this year.
We started our 2013 Twins Wrap series yesterday, you can find our thoughts on what the team will look like next year here.
FAVORITE HIGHLIGHT:
BMTN Sports and Broadcast Director GR Anderson Jr: In late June, Justin Morneau finally goes yard after nearly a two-month drought. And when he comes back to the dugout, no one greets him, so he throws some invisible hi-fives. Link to the video here.
BMTN midday sports guy Joe Nelson: A favorite highlight has to be something good. Nothing good happened, so I don’t have a favorite highlight. To be honest, I actually enjoyed the 18-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics in early September. I’ve always wanted to see a team score 30 runs in a game, and the A’s were on pace to do so after five innings. It’s a shame it didn’t happen. I’m not joking, I really wanted that to happen.
BMTN sports yes-man Mike Gallagher: Joe is always so freaking negative, and I’m usually just as bad. Today is no exception. There was simply nothing worth watching at the pro level, and if there was, it was quickly negated by something equally awful. I will say, I loved the Miguel Sano 30-second home run trot at Double A New Britain that got him benched.
BMTN newcomer Aaron Ziemer: Was there one? In all honesty, its pretty bare, I will go with the debut of Canadian Andrew Albers, throwing 17.1 scoreless innings to begin his Major League career. Too bad he finished 2-5.
WORST LOWLIGHT:
Anderson: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire lit into center fielder Aaron Hicks after the rookie caught an eighth-inning fly ball a little too nonchalantly in May, catching and flipping the ball to second baseman Brian Dozier in one showy motion. By the time he got to the dugout, cameras caught Gardy ripping into the kid.
Gallagher: The entire season series against Kansas City. Nothing says pure, unadulterated failure, like going 4-15 against a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in 28 years. Getting outscored 98-51 by them in those games? Just an added bonus.
Nelson: Back in April, when the Twins were in the early stages of playing horrible baseball at the highest level, they offered fans the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch batting practice for the low price of $15. About 12 hours later the club retracted the offer, stating that the promotion hadn’t been vetted out by the entire organization. It was front-office failure at its finest.
Ziemer: See Joe’s. Classic moment in Twins Territory.
FAVORITE LOWLIGHT:
Anderson: What’s the matter with you guys? You have a favorite lowlight? That’s brutal. Okay, I think mine has to be the late game where a fan scored four different foul balls. It’s a lowlight because the ballpark was so empty, he didn’t have any competition. But it’s a favorite, because, hey, the guy scored four foul balls.
Gallagher: Perhaps the most representative moment of this 2013 season.
Nelson: This video, even more representative of the year.
Ziemer: Has to be Sept. 21st, playing in Oakland, the stadium sewer backed up prior to the game. Stadium officials claimed it was because of the rain, but I am not so sure the baseball gods weren’t trying to send the Twins a message about their play.
QUOTE OF THE YEAR:
Anderson: That truly terrible 18-3 loss to Oakland at home in early September. At one point, Twins catcher Eric Fryer hits his first MLB home run, and Bremer says, “And just like that, the Twins are back in it, 16 to 3.”
Gallagher: A 12-inning, 9-6 victory in Houston Tuesday, September 3, sending the Astros to their 93rd loss, and the Twins to their 61st win. Needless to say, interest was low.
Dick Bremer’s three magical quotes that night, all coming in extra innings: “There might be 500 people left here right now.”
“Have you ever heard a major league ballpark this quiet?”
“I feel like I have to whisper so the players can’t hear me.”
Moments of brilliance from the new broadcast hall-of-famer.
Nelson: Twins analyst Roy Smalley after a win over the Tigers on September 23rd: “This is a really big win for the Twins, it really is.”
Ziemer: Yes to all of the above, a year for the ages.
