Minnesota Twins Fans: Vote MLB Fan Cave Contestant McGivern As Your Representative!

A fan might wonder after the last two ninety-whatever loss seasons why a Minnesota Twins fan living in the MLB Fan Cave matters. I get it. I know it’s been tough, and while 2013 shows signs of improvement, no one (except maybe the Twins brass whose job is to have a pie-in-the-sky attitude) is expecting a playoff run during 2013.

My fellow fans, that is EXACTLY why we need a representative in the Fan Cave.

The Twins have had two rough years. The team has made moves that will provide some improvement in 2013 and are laying the groundwork for a competitive 2014. And it’s important that the rest of Major League Baseball remember the Twins because they’ll be back in contention soon. A representative in the Fan Cave is an ideal way for the Twins to keep their presence known.

Besides, in Twins Territory, we’re full of “Minnesota Nice”. (Even if we don’t live in Minnesota.) Just like we cheer for Glen Perkins and Joe Mauer, we also cheer for a Hometown Hero like Michael McGivern.

A graduate of Woodbury high school, McGivern is a (grown-up) local boy and a lifelong Twins fan. I had the privilege of sitting down with him last week to talk about his bid to become the ultimate MLB Cave Dweller. Don’t take that “lifelong Twins fan” label as a cliché. When I asked McGivern about his favorite Twins memories at the Dome, at Target Field, and at “away stadiums”, it seemed he almost didn’t know where to start. From cheap seats and dollar dogs with his teenage buddies to Game 163 and the end of the Dome’s MLB days, to seeing Denard Span‘s almost walk-off homerun against the Milwaukee Brewers during the inaugural season at Target Field, to a series with his dad at Fenway Park, McGivern has been a passionate Twins fan throughout his whole life.

His baseball dedication knows no bounds, including the oppressive mid-summer heat of Texas:

"I went to Houston in July. Nobody goes to travel to Houston in July unless you’re a big baseball fan."

As I listened to McGivern tell me about how big a fan he was, I recalled the first time I heard about the MLB Fan Cave. I had a good ten seconds where I started mentally writing my application for this dream gig…and then I recalled bills I have to pay, family commitments, being gainfully employed, and I realized the Fan Cave was probably just a dream for me. So, I was curious about what convinced McGivern that this was the right time for him to represent the Twins, taking a year out of his life to live a baseball fan’s dream.

"I heard about it last year. A couple friends had shared with me and said, ‘Oh, you’d be perfect for this.’ …Once I saw how they expanded it last year and I followed Lindsay Guentzel through it, I thought ‘Wow, that is for me.’"

In November, Guentzel tweeted an offer of advice to anyone interested in applying to the Fan Cave, and McGivern got in touch with the former Cave Dweller. The Twins organization invited McGivern to film his applicant video at Target Field, and McGivern was able to get some words of advice from Guentzel. One thing she stressed is that, despite how fun it sounds to watch hours of baseball with a bunch of other fans, living the MLB Fan Cave experience day in and day out is a lot harder than it seems. McGivern, however, is more than qualified to take on the challenge. Between routinely working twelve-hour days early in his career and spending solo evenings (and wee hours of the morning) running the Twins radio broadcast for a station in a smaller Minnesota town, McGivern has the passion and the stamina to outlast any Cave Dweller competition.

So, how can you get our newest Hometown Hero elected to the MLB Fan Cave? Vote here before Wednesday, February 13 at 5:00 pm Eastern. You can follow Michael McGivern on Twitter @McGive_It_To_Me and the latest from the MLB Fan Cave @MLBFanCave. And check out McGivern’s recent visit to the “Talk to Contact” podcast.