Bon voyage, summer. You were great.

            Summer’s officially over.  School starts tomorrow.  Sigh.  Giant sigh. 

            Don’t get me wrong—I’m really excited for fall.  Fall means college football is in full swing—road trips, tailgating, cold days and hot drinks at TCF Stadium.  It means our first play-off race in an outdoor stadium—Twins hoodies and blankets replacing flip-flops and tank tops.  It means Sunday Fundays and Vikings games—and good old Brett Favre in the sacred purple and gold.  Basically, fall is a sport fan’s dream.

            Summer 2010 was my dream.  Now that it’s officially in the books, I can confidently look back and say it was awesome.  Opening Target Field, following the Twins on the road, saying goodbye to Rosenblatt at the College World Series—it was a baseball fan’s dream summer.  And these are my some of my top moments.

1.  Rosen’s Sports Sunday @ Target Field.

            Last semester, I interned at WCCO-TV in the sports department and had the pleasure to work with Mark Rosen and Carry Clancy on the Rosen’s Sports Sunday show every week.  The night before the Twins’ home opener, we broadcasted the show from first base—I lucked out and was able to come along and help out.  I got dropped off at the player gates and was buzzed in, only I couldn’t find anyone to help me get out to the field.  I searched the back concourses for a sign of life and finally found someone in the Red Sox’s clubhouse, getting it ready for the next day’s big game.  He walked me to the Twins’ clubhouse, buzzed me, and directed me towards the field.  Then he left me alone in the Twins’ clubhouse the night before the home opener.

            It was amazing.  Plain and simple.  The Twins’ throw-back jerseys were all hanging up in the laundry room, just waiting for the players to come to the stadium the next day and pick them up.  I passed the infamous batting cage and pushed open the double doors—like I was instructed—and walked out into the Twins’ dugout.  It.  Was.  Amazing.  Absolutely breathtaking.  I honestly didn’t do anything.  Basically, I stood around and held a jersey that Kevin Smith had brought along—but it was still the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten to experience!  Besides Smith, Frank Quilici was along as a guest and getting to meet him was the icing on the already delicious Twins cake.  I didn’t get to go to the opening game and I was actually okay with it—because what I got to do was ten times better than just getting to see the game. 

2.  Meeting Harmon Killebrew

            My last day at WCCO was a Sunday.  I came in to help train in my replacement and help on Rosen’s Sports Sunday, like I usually did.  Carry hadn’t told me about our guest yet—finally, at about 9pm she broke the news.  “Oh Lindsay, you’ll need to print a form… we need one for Harmon.”

            Gulp.  That could only mean one thing.  Harmon Killebrew was going to be our guest on RSS that night.  No big deal.  My job all semester had been taking care of the guests—I had debated the SEC and Pac-10 with Ron Coomer and Henry Lake, talked Finland with Niklas Backstrom, and reminisced on the Missota Conference with Lindsay Whalen.   It was a sweet gig—and I mean this with no disrespect, but meeting Harmon trumped my entire semester of work.  He’s a class act and not only took pictures with everyone who asked but also gave me some sweet material to use for my sports trivia questions.  The highlight to my semester, it was the perfect way to go out—especially after I got to call my dad and tell him I met his childhood idol.

3.  College World Series in Omaha

            Read my last post.  Best sporting event I’ve ever been to.

4.  Kansas City Royals vs. Chicago White Sox

            You probably read that and went huh?  Trust me, I felt weird writing it.  But it’s true.  In the middle of August when it had been decided that either the Twins or the White Sox would be winning the AL Central, my friend and I went down to KC to visit a friend for a weekend.  Worked out well because the White Sox were in town to play the Royals at Kauffman and our friend scored us amazing tickets to all three games.  Friday’s game was rained out—okay, it was really a tsunami—so we were able to see a crazy double-header on Saturday.  Game one—11 innings of crazy baseball, including the 7^th when Yuniesky Betancourt hit a 2-out grand slam to tie the game 5-5.  He brought in the winning run in the bottom of the 11^th on a walk-off single, sending the entire stadium into hysterics.  Game one, Royals 6—White Sox 5.

            Game two didn’t start until around 10:30.  It went back and forth all game with Betancourt bringing in the tying run in the bottom of the ninth to send it into extra innings.  White Sox scored in the top of the 10^th and the Royals couldn’t answer back—Chicago took game two 7-6. 

            Sunday was hot.  Excruciatingly hot.  But it didn’t matter.  We were smack dab behind home plate for game three of the craziest baseball series I have ever witnessed first hand.  The best part of the whole situation—the only clean clothes we had were Twins gear.  Yup, we wore Twins gear to Kauffman stadium sitting just twenty feet from the White Sox dugout.  And it was noticed.  Several times.  By not only Ozzie and his coaching staff but by actual players as well.  It was awesome—almost as awesome as the game, which went into extra innings with the Sox and the Royals tied 2-2.  Three baseball games, 31 innings, and two wins by the Royals—the last coming on a walk-off single by Jason Kendall in the bottom of the tenth.  

(I by no mean take credit for the Royals’ awesome wins that weekend, but I’ve got to think that our Twins spirit helped them out.   You can still send me a thank you note after the Twinks win the AL Central.)

5.  Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers (June 28)

            Not only did the Twins 11-4 win over the Tigers put us back in first place, it also happened to be the game when Denard Span showed Minnesota—and Major League Baseball—what he can do.  5 RBIs on 4 hits, including three crazy triples.  It was a game we needed to win and we did it in grand fashion.  Ironically, the team were battling for first was the Tigers—the team that’s currently 13 games out of the first place.

Chicago or Bust....

          My morning started off fine.  Up at 5:15, ready to go at 6… but then I started forgetting things and couldn’t figure out how to pack up my suitcase and before I knew it, it was 6:35 and I had a seven o’clock bus to catch downtown.  Yup, you guessed right.  I missed it.  Literally a block away as I see the bus pulling away from the sidewalk.  I didn’t panic or start to cry, which honestly surprised me—it’s a typical emotion for me when things start to fall apart.  But I must have put my big girl pants on this morning because I just turned around, walked back to my car, and sat there until I figured out what I was going to do.

            A quick check on Southwest Airline’s website and I had my game plan set—a 10:40 flight out of Minneapolis to Midway for as cheap as I could get it.  I was prepared to beg the counter lady at the airport if need be.  My friend Katie had already sent me a text, asking if I had made the bus okay.  The mom in her, she said.  I laughed, because while that was true I tend to be the most irresponsible one in the group so check-ups are a must when we are all traveling together.  No, I responded quickly, adding that she shouldn’t worry and that I will be there to meet her in Chicago. 

            The train was actually pretty quick and before I knew it, I was at Lindbergh Terminal.  Lindbergh, big.  Humphrey, little, I reminded myself as I stepped off onto the platform.  I hurried through the tram and up to ticketing where I stood for a good five minutes trying to find Southwest’s counter.  Delta, United, US Airways, I read over and over again.  No Southwest, seriously?  A quick check at the Information Booth and I was redirected over to Humphrey Terminal—the little one—by a very sweet white-haired lady who never once made me feel like a failure for going to wrong airport, bless her heart.

            I had plenty of time to kill, since my bus left at 7 and my plane didn’t leave until 10:40 so I stopped in the ladies room.  Found $23 on the floor.  No lie.  I thought it was just a dollar bill folded up, but when I picked it up it was actually a huge wad of cash.   So it’s only 8 o’clock in the morning and so far I’ve missed my bus, gone to the wrong airport, and found $23.  Seriously?

            I made it to Humphrey, which is not nearly as fun as going to the big terminal.  There’s no hustle-and-bustle or bad fast-food places to enjoy.  In fact, it was so quiet I was actually able to take a nap in the hard metal seats.  My alarm went off right before they started boarding so I quickly got in line right as my dad started calling me.

            Whatcha doing, he wanted to know.  I whispered that I was on my way to Chicago and that I would call him when I got there.  Are you driving, he continued unaware that I was trying to keep the call short and to the point.  Yes, I lied.  How was I going to explain to my parents that I missed my bus and was now taking a one-way flight to Chicago just so I could make it to the Twins series?  Well, be careful, he cautioned.  My mom quickly got on the phone and reminded me of all the things I shouldn’t do when I’m down there.  Don’t walk alone, don’t go anywhere with strangers, don’t get arrested because you know your father will not drive down to Chicago to bail you out.  Check, check, and check I assured her.

            Unaware that Southwest now has what I like to call ‘general admission seating’, I spent a good five minutes looking over my ticket again and again trying to find my seat number.  You just sit anywhere, a guy behind me offered as I expressed my concern for not finding a seat number.  Oh.  Another red mark to add to what was supposed to be a pretty uneventful day.  So now it’s 11:40.  I’m sitting next to a couple sporting University of Michigan attire and a nun.  In full dress.  The flight attendant is being extra nice to her, no doubt trying to score some extra points with the big guy.

            We’re starting to descend.  I’m being told to put my computer away.  But don’t worry, I’ll be able to finish this at Midway.  I’ve got about nine hours to kill until Katie’s plane arrives in Chicago.  At O’Hare.  Yup, that will be the fourth airport I’ve visited today.  But it’s all in the name of love.  For the Twins, of course.  All of this will be a distant memory when Big Jim hits a home-run on his old turf this weekend—sort of a little ‘hi, I’ve missed you’ present for Ozzie.

Bienvenidos, Jaime!

I’ve already bestowed a nickname on our new acquisition Jim Thome. Jaime. It’s the Spanish equivalent of James and it’s what my family calls my dad after he has a few too many margaritas. Yes, I’m welcoming Jaime like he’s a part of my own family. Why, you ask? Well, don’t get me wrong, I fully appreciate Jason Kubel and his accomplishments this past season. But when I’m given the opportunity to add even more power to a somewhat lacking bench, I’m going to go along with it. Jaime has 57 home runs against the Twins and with the majority of the closers in the American League being right-handers, it can’t hurt to add one more lefty to our roster.

And let’s be honest, watching the Sox fans squirm uncomfortably in their seats as Jaime steps up to bat in a Twins jersey will definitely be a highlight this season. And even though I nearly cried when Thome hit a homer to knock the Twins out of the play-offs in 2008, I think I will be able to forgive-and-forget that little upset if Thome can deliver while on the road in Chicago .

Ironically as I’m writing this FSN is replaying Game 163—it’s as if the baseball gods decided to grant Minnesota a few hours of reprieve from mourning by blessing us with an encore of one of the decades best games. And even though I know what I happens, I can’t help but get excited. It’s a little embarrassing, sitting here in the WCCO newsroom hyped up about a game that already happened. But I feel like I never got a chance to celebrate—the Twins left the next day for New York and well, we all know how that turned out. So this is my celebration. And now I’ve got it DVR’ed in case I need to watch it after the Gophers fail to make NCAA tournament. Here’s hoping I don’t need it.