Personal highlights from the ‘24 season
Following the excitement of the Minnesota Twins 2023 postseason run, I entered 2024 with renewed vigor. It should come as little surprise that I achieved a personal best 30 live games. Though the results weren’t always rosy, it was still a fun summer at the ballpark…
Tale of the Tape
- 14 wins, 16 losses (10-13 at Target Field; 4-3 on the road)
- Simeon Woods-Richardson: 7 starts seen (who would have guessed he’d lead the pack?!)
Photo by Matt Krohn/Getty Images
- Joe Ryan & Bailey Ober: 5 starts
- Pablo Lopez & Chris Paddack: 4 starts
- Zebby Matthews: 3 starts
- Louie Varland & David Festa: 1 start
Personal Highlights (with some “memorable bad stuff” mixed in)
- Three baseball road trips—I made it to Detroit in April, Pittsburgh in June, and Chicago’s North Side in August! All were lovely and Wrigley now tops my overall list.
- The annual traditions of shivering through an early-April Dodgers beatdown (4/9) and experiencing one game of a Yankees sweep (5/14).
- The first victory (7-0 over the White Sox on 4/22) and the last victory (3-1 over the Red Sox on 5/4) of the 12-game winning streak.
- Exhorting two epic 9th-inning comeback attempts—Correa’s grand slam against the Astros on 7/5 and a spirited rally against the Brewers 7/21—but seeing both fall just short.
- Watching Manny Margot homer off Tarik Skubel to beat the Tigers on 7/2, then witnessing a 13-3 thumping of the Royals on 8/13. My thoughts after both: “At least we won’t have to worry about DET/KC anymore”. Uh huh.
- Seeing Alex Kiriloff’s late-inning, 3-run home run defeat the defending champion Rangers on 5/25.
- Sitting through the 8/31 15-0 loss to the Blue Jays and having to tweak the old angler’s salt: “A bad day at the ballpark is still better than a good day at work”.
- Shaking my head at losing to the Marlins (9/24), then attending the 9/28 wake (a lackluster loss to the Orioles) immediately following mathematical elimination.
- To end on a happier note: Dog Days! Twice I got to take my sisters and their pooches (Kona, Maui, & Mia) to Target Field. Laugh or roll your eyes, but that gets them out to the ballpark far more than anything strictly baseball-related.
A final musing: I found myself at a lot of Tuesday contests—also dollar hot dog night (looks around nervously for Chuck Knoblauch). I’d estimate somewhere between 40-50 wieners were consumed by yours truly. It is perhaps a medical wonder I remain upright to tell you about my 2024 ballpark adventures!