With the emergence of young players on this year’s Twins, the sports daddy feels that this team has taken on the look of the AAA Rochester Red Wings roster at times. Rock the Vote…

There was a Twins marketing campaign 19 years ago called Twinnin. It was a local WCCO TV effort to promote the 1991, eventual World Champion Minnesota Twins. I liked alot, and I liked that team more.   I liked it so much that I bought the domain for one of my first blogs pre-THESPORTSDADDY.COM.

I am anxiously waiting for the rash of new songs to hit the local Twin Cities Radio Stations. Pennant Fever is at high pitch here, and I can’t wait to see what songs will replace the “Polka for the Pennant” and the “Berenguer Boogie” for the 2010 post season.

I do want the Homer Hanky to read “Jim Thome’s Homie Hankie” though.

In 1991 Twins fans like me got to see guys like Chuck Knoblauch, (ROY), Kent Hrbek, Kirby Puckett, Dan Gladden, Chilli Davis, Shane Mack, Brian Harper, Al Newman,Gene Larkin, Randy Bush, Mike Pagliarulo, Greg Gagne, Scott Erickson, Jack Morris, Brian Harper,Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera, Carl Willis and Steve Bedrosian jam out to Win Twins and Twinnin all season long and deep into some October rings. Good times.

Baseball is tough to predict, and that’s why spring’s are always “hopes eternal” for it’s fans. I’d be lying if I said it was a surprise or a shock that the 2010 AL Central Champion would be the Minnesota Twins.

The fact is, you can’t predict that a team who lost it’s closer before the season began, and an MVP candidate after the All-Star break, would win it’s division with such ease. But that’s baseball.

Since the days of kindergarten, when Harmon Killebrew was the American League’s best slugger, I have maintained the “springs hopes eternal” mind set for the Twins. That’s baseball too.

As is the unbridled loyalty of a kindergartener to his parents, who echoes the baseball allegiances they are taught. Yes, the current generation of kindergarten Twins fans have the same “blind hope” in common with their forefathers.

Last Winter, the Twins championship drive started with the signing of Jim Thome. Getting a player like that, a Hall of Famer, a true slugger, a classic icon, a true gamer to join an already established cast of winners was a real indication of the Twins intents for 2010.

With Thome, the Twins had acquired a sure fire late inning pinch hitter who could be dangerous in the clutch. I remember telling my kid at that time,

“I am going to get you a Thome jersey because the Twins got him to make ‘noise’ in the playoffs. He is coming to the Twins to hit homers (long bombs) in the clutch, and you are going to love watching that at Target Field.”

At Spring Training this year, the first thing we did when arriving was go to see Thome in a Twins jersey. I just had to witness the reality that the Twins had acquired this modern day Babe Ruth/Harmon Killebrew type player. Later, that week, we sat in the stands as the PA announcer read the Twins line-up to the crowd.

“Span…Hudson…Hardy…Mauer…Morneau…Cuddyer…Young…Thome…Valencia…”

I told my boy then,

“Man, that sounds like a championship batting order. I can see them reading that off in the World Series come October. We might need a third baseman though?”

At his first t-ball practice this spring, my little man was bragging about how great Thome would be based purely on my scouting report. As part of the “get to know you introductions” his coach asked his newly assembled team,

“So, who is your favorite Major League player?”

While most of the Minnesota born kids answered “Joe Mauer!” my boy responded,

“Jim Thome! He is getting paid to launch bombs and win games late, and I think he is the greatest player ever… he will help win the pennant at the Twins new stadium.”

I got this weird look from the coach, as my little t-baller rattled off his version of my prediction. It was like he was asking, “is this kid for real?” I just chuckled and nodded.

I know, it’s easy to sit here and write an “I told you so” blog post the day AFTER the Twins won the A.L. Central, but as a seasoned Twins fan, I would be lying if I didn’t admit that their is a special feeling about this divisional champion.

I loved the 1987 & 1991 seasons because they both had a special feeling about them before they ever started. The 2010 Twins have elements from both those pennant winning histories.

This year’s team has new baseball home, and record attention from it’s fans. The love affair feeling between fans & players from 1987 is there. The loaded bullpen and champion-proven roster of everyday players from 1991 is also in play. But most significant, this year’s team has that intangible, the difference maker, and it had it the day it signed the big man from Chicago.

I never had a Harmon Killebrew jersey when I was in Kindergarten. It took me 40 years to acquire a jersey for the slugger of his time. I bought my authentic Killer #3 Cooperstown Collectible the same day I bought my kid his Thome #25 last Spring.

My kid loves his Thome jersey so much, that he wore it to his first day of Kindergarten. The fun thing about all this is that we will both we wearing our jerseys this October at Target Field for post-season games. Baseball is definitely an ageless game, but is never easy to predict.

Married for 13 years, with 2 kids, I often start wondering were I rank in priority with my wife. It’s tough, because I know she is a good person,  and she would do anything for the welfare of our kids.
I appreciate that I can trust her when it comes to the kids, but what about me?

At the risk of sounding like a selfish prick (Yes, I have been accused of being “something like that” from time to time) I embark in part 3 of this series, “What do Sports Dads want from their wives?” Quite frankly, the sports dad just wants to feel that their wives really care about their welfare on more than a superficial level. Think of like this.

Imagine you are an aging Major League Superstar, who’s skills have diminished over time. As Toby Keith sang, “you might not be as good as you once were, but your as good once, as you’ve ever been.” I think of current Twin’s star Jim Thome’s situation he was in after the 2009 season.

His hometown team, the Chicago White Sox traded him at mid-season to the National League’s Los Angeles Dodgers. As an American Leaguer, he was able to be a Designated Hitter without playing a position in the field. With the Dodgers, he was used in rare situations, and didn’t get much of chance to show he still had a Hall of Fame bat. At the end of the season, Thome found himself “unwanted” by many baseball teams. That’s a familiar feeling for many of sports daddy’s who have been married for several years to the same spouse.

In our minds, we still believe that we are that we are that “baseball legend” husband that their wives chose to marry once upon a time. On our wedding days, we were all considered “royalty” waiting to be crowned in Cooperstown. Our in-laws loved us, and our wives still had that honeymoon twinkle in their eyes. Life was good, and felt even better.

So what do sports dad’s really want from their wives? We just want our wives to tell us that they still believe in us too. We all want to play on a team (wife/family) that knows our strengths, and can live with our weaknesses. It would be nice have our partners demonstrate that they do want to spend time with us, and that they are still concerned about our health, happiness, and well-being. We want to be on a team that will accept us for who we are, as is, knowing, trusting that we can still deliver in the clutch.

From first-hand experience, I know once the kids were born, my wife started paying more attention to them than me. I understand why, but that cannot mask my inner desire to have my wife’s exclusive attention from time to time. Even if it’s not intended on her part, feeling that our wives don’t really care about our welfare, cuts deeply. In numerous homes, this dynamic is what gets off balance and leads to serious relationship problems. The wife thinks she’s doing what’s best by putting the kids’ needs first, not realizing that the husband is as hurt as he is by this.

It’s tough to beg for this attention, and even harder to ask for it. Sports daddy’s often withhold their hurt by the lack of affection and caring. They don’t want their wives to see them as selfish, looking for attention with feelings that our preferences and needs are overlooked.

Fortunately for Thome, he found a team that needed, wanted and obtained his services. The Minnesota Twins signed him last off-season, and he has proven that he still has that Hall of Fame swing several times in 2010.

They play really cool pre-game music at Hammond Stadium for Spring Training. I know, because every game I attend, I am one of the first 20 or so fans that find their way to their seat 2.5 hours before the first pitch.

I can’t control myself. I am just one of those people at always has to be at the yard first. It’s hard to explain this to my wife, or any other person who is sane in normal, but I am a baseball freak. I am at that guy.

That being said, I love the whole transition of Spring Training games in Florida. It starts out when you roll up to the stadium, pay $5 for parking, and then get directed by some half asleep retiree wearing a Twins hat and orange jacket (presumably so no one hits him, and wakes him up) to a parking spot right next to the Twins pre-game BP Field.

Then you get out of your rental car, and find yourself parked next to the Mauer Family Reunion who are tailgating like it’s an NFC Championship Game at the old Met. (Note: I am not 100% sure it was the actual Mauers, but with several Joe look alikes, many wearing Mauer Chevrolet t-shirts, it was more than likely).

The first thing one normally does after that is head over to the pre-game BP and watch the boys launch a few bombs. The crowd ooo’s and ahh’s, and then it’s time to head in to watch the ground crew paint the field with chalk. Of course before you take your seat in the empty stadium you just have to stop by the beer stand at the top of the main entrance and buy a cold one, a bag of Cajun peanuts, and $5 Spring Training 2010 program.

Resist the temptation to go green- by that I mean, don’t go buy another green TC hat or t-shirt to commemorate spring training’s National St. Patty’s Day Holiday; that is unless you don’t already have 2 or 3 at home from previous treks. The green themed stuff is cool and all that, but it’s very seasonal, and will make you crave the McDonalds Shamrock shake.