It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. When I went down to
Fort Myers in early March to cover the Twins, I wasn’t supposed to leave under
the haze of a global pandemic. My office has been closed for months. Sports
have been shelved just as long. The Twins defending the AL Central crown wasn’t
intended to take place in just a 60-game sprint. None of this was supposed to
happen, but here we are, and we have baseball.
I don’t know if we’ll get through the entire schedule. I
think MLB has done a decent job making sure they have significant protocols in
place. My hope is that even while a 16-team Postseason is looney, we’ll see it
play out. For one day, one night, tonight, things stand still though. Opening
Day presents an opportunity for everyone to begin anew.
Last year’s 307 home runs hold no weight as to what takes
place in 2020. The Bomba Squad and their 101 wins don’t carry over. Rocco Baldelli
has won a Manager of the Year award and Nelson Cruz has gone over the hill. All
of that is in the past now, and the Twins future remains bright as ever.
Brimming with the best lineup in the sport, equipped with a lights out relief
corps, and bolstered by a rotation chocked full of depth, this could be the
year.
A World Series ultimately defines a team’s season, but it
doesn’t negate the quality along the way. Because the Twins didn’t bring home a
ring in 2019 doesn’t take away from what they accomplished. Derek Falvey and
Thad Levine haven’t been building to look back on those accomplishments
however, and the step they’ve put forward this season is their best year. The
roster is primed to make serious noise, and even with the oddities that will
follow this year, the Twins are in as good of a position as anyone.
I appreciate you all for reading, following, and trying to
make it through this lull. Now we’ve got that in our rear view too, and Opening
Day allows us to dive full speed ahead into what could quite possibly be the
best season in Minnesota Twins history.
We weren’t supposed to get here this way, but we’ve arrived,
and Opening Day is just as beautiful as it’s always been. Settle in, it won’t
be as long, but you can be assured it will be every bit as fun.
