The Minnesota Twins are cool and casual

Posted on June 7, 2010

Jim Thome #25 of the Minnesota Twins puts a bat in the bat rack in the Twins dugout before the game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on June 5, 2010 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

The Minnesota Twins just left town after taking two out of three from the Oakland A’s. I am sad to see them leave because they are so much fun to shoot. This small market team with a big time superstar and a lineup of no-names continue to play great baseball in 2010. They also happen to be one of the coolest and most casual teams in all of baseball, posing for pictures in the dugout two minutes before the first pitch and playing winning baseball. Led by their terrific manager Ron Gardenhire and their local hero turned big money superstar Joe Mauer the Twins are a team that I wish would come to the Bay Area more than once this season. I am jealous of all the shooters in Minneapolis who get to photograph this team on a regular basis in their brand new ballpark, Target Field.

Saturday’s game was a 6:05 pm start, which meant great light for the first few innings and a chance to shoot the Twins in the dugout before the game. Naturally, the Twins did not disappoint (except for wearing the blue uniform tops). Danny Valencia was all smiles sitting on the bench joking with his teammates, and once Joe Mauer got back into the dugout after warming up starting pitcher Francisco Liriano in the bullpen he was his usual fun self joking around with his teammates and posing for pictures with Nick Punto (see below). Mauer has got to be the nicest superstar in baseball. I wrote about Mauer in November of 2009 when he won the 2009 American League Most Valuable Player Award. He really is a great guy who everyone can feel good about rooting for.

Sunday was Little League day at the Coliseum, which meant that over 5,000 kids would be parading around the field before the game, canceling batting practice. I slept in a little bit and did not get to the park til 11:00 am, which is super late for me. After some surprisingly good bowtie pasta in the A’s press lounge I got over to the Twins dugout to try and get some more fun pre-game stuff. As usual they were loose before the game, and made Michael Zagaris and I very happy by wearing their new road gray uniform tops, which look much better than the blue ones they wore Saturday night.

The Twins left town in first place in the American League Central with a 33-24 record. I expect this cool and casual bunch of guys, who happen to be playing in a new park, to ride the wave all the way to the post season. Maybe I will have a chance to see them again in their new park in October. That would be sweet!