January 27, 2018

Glen Perkins, a poem

Extra innings…

-Sluggers Jim Thome, Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and closer Trevor Hoffman have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Thome likely will enter Cooperstown as a member of the Cleveland Indians, but he also spent parts of two seasons with the Twins, including in 2010 when the club last won the American League Central. Thome also hit his 600th home run with the team. Thome is one of five players in major league history to have at least 500 homers, 1,500 runs, 1,600 RBI and 1,700 walks. The others are Barry Bonds, Mel Ott, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. That’s good company.

Former Twins ace Johan Santana, who appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, received less than 5 percent of the vote which means he will not be on next year’s ballot, according to MLB.com. To remain on the ballot he needed at least 5 percent.

COMMENTS

Hi, I’m Rolf Boone, Twins fan.

I became a fan of the Minnesota Twins after a friendly wager in the early 1980s. I survived Ron Davis, the meltdown in Cleveland, Phil Bradley at the Kingdome and then marveled at a rising generation of stars and two World Series wins in 1987 and 1991. Brad Radke made the 1990s bearable, while Kirby Puckett’s eye injury, exit from the game and eventual death made it almost too much to bear. The new century ushered in more talent — Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Joe Nathan, Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau — and consecutive seasons of playoff baseball, followed by consecutive seasons of losing baseball. A winning season returned in 2015. So here we are. Go Twins.