February 4, 2018

This…

Former St. Louis Cardinals’ reliever Zach Duke, who signed a one-year deal with the Twins this offseason, said the following to MLB.com reporter Rhett Bollinger last week.

“I had a couple offers out there, but after examining rosters, the way teams are put together, atmosphere, and talking to people I knew that had been in certain places, the Twins just made sense,” said Duke, who has yet to pitch in the postseason. “This team is on the edge of being really good for a while and has the same type of feel as the Astros with a bunch of really good young position players, but maybe a pitcher or two away.”

Extra innings…

-And now for something completely different. If you follow this blog, you’ve probably noticed that besides the Twins, I also have an interest in typewriters. That interest includes sending typed letters to friends and family. My parents recently completed a 10-day Amtrak trip, in which they traveled aboard the Empire Builder to Chicago, Southwest Chief to Los Angeles and the Coast Starlight to the Northwest. I was determined to send them a letter and see if I could get it delivered to their room on the train. Well, it worked. At Union Station in Portland, Oregon, the Red Cap service delivered a letter for the first time in 30 years, said the man who carried out the task that day. Thank you.

Here’s the moment…

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.