I love baseball. It’s something I have known for most of my life but have recently ignored. This was due to the unfortunate dealings of the owners of my favorite team, the Minnesota Twins. I have spoken in great detail about the incompetent and miserly actions of Minnesota’s owners, the Pohlad family. My frustration with them was so intense that I canceled my Twins TV subscription, thereby forfeiting my ability to watch their games on a regular basis.

But I sat down on Sunday to watch the team in their rubber-game match against the Toronto Blue Jays and rediscovered my love for the game of baseball. The occasion also brought back my appreciation for some of the Twins’ players and the effort they exert every single game. On top of that, a conversation I had with a local high school coach reminded me of how important the teaching element of sports is, which is a significant part of my affinity for athletics.

The Beauty of Baseball

This is the part of the story where I will, for a moment, bore you with the beauty I see in baseball. Where people see a slow-moving sport with few moments of action, I see a sport with constant movement, opposing strategies trying to best one another, and a thinking person’s paradise disguised in a subtle package. An outfielder shading over to guess where a batted ball will be hit. Coaches giving steal signs to base runners while opposing managers are calling for pitchouts.

This, and much more, occurs wrapped in a head-to-head confrontation between a pitcher and a batter. Everything else is an extension of this classic matchup. Baseball can be unforgiving to those who lose these matchups, but it can also yield huge rewards for those who succeed in these situations. And all of this is tied together in a beautiful symmetry that is almost lyrical in its presentation.

Those Lovable Twins

I am under no illusion that this current Twins team will even come close to playoff contention in 2026. The Pohlad family’s actions have stripped the club of so many elements needed for a successful season run. One of the things that makes it so frustrating is that respectability for the franchise was within reach. Three to four more quality relief pitchers, and a solid right-handed hitting first baseman/outfielder would have catapulted this team to at least contender status.

But the Pohlads not only conducted a fire sale last July but also failed to make any attempt to restock the on-field talent. Then they attempted to appease us by saying that the sky is not falling and that everything will be alright. Absent a competitive team, we baseball fans must find our joy in watching the quiet determination of a Byron Buxton, who, after years of frustration, is demonstrating what a phenomenal talent he is, even at the advanced age of 32.

Or the old school gamer attitude of second baseman Luke Keaschall, who reminds us that hope springs eternal and that maybe the impossible is possible. And who isn’t inspired by the performances of Connor Prielipp and Andrew Morris, young pitchers thrown into the fire who have responded with a high degree of execution and professionalism. It may not be enough to turn a season around, but it does light a flame within this baseball savant.

Words of Wisdom

As if I needed any other reasons to reaffirm my continuing love affair with baseball, a conversation I had with a local high school baseball coach erased any remaining doubt I had about my passion. I was covering a baseball game between the Roseville, MN, Raiders and the Mounds View Mustangs a few weeks ago, and after the game, I interviewed Greg Setterlund, Roseville’s head coach.

We discussed how his team was doing and what knowledge he and his coaches were trying to impart to their young student-athletes. He said one of the main lessons they were trying to teach is how to handle adversity, both on and off the field. They had been defeated by Mounds View that day, but they continued to play hard and support each other. They didn’t give up, and that’s what really mattered to him. Because that’s what matters when you’re in an important game.

I responded by saying, “Well, it’s a life lesson, right?” To which he replied, “They say baseball is life, but it’s probably more life than it is baseball at this point.” Well said, Coach.