Minnesota Twins: Five Favorite All-Star Moments

Justin Morneau Comes Home

This one was a very biased choice because I was actually there to view it.

The year was 2014 and the Minnesota Twins were playing host to the All-Star Game. In keeping with the All-Star tradition, the Monday before the game there was the Home Run Derby.

Morneau was part of Troy Tulowitzki’s team and after a delay of more than hour due to rain, the contestants were introduced.

Two of the sluggers in particular drew significantly large praise from the packed house at Target Field.

One was Brian Dozier, who drew a loud standing ovation. The second was Morneau who was clearly moved by the praise he received from his former home team.

It was truly goose bump-inducing moment, especially being there to experience it. The crowd was into it, chanting his name and going crazy every time he took a cut.

Unfortunately, Morneau didn’t make it out of the first round after hitting just two home runs and losing in a swing off with Todd Frazier.

For that matter, Dozier also failed to make it out of the first round after hitting two homers. But to the Twins fans, that would have just been icing on the cake because the real treat was seeing the former American League MVP in Target Field once again.

After Morneau finished taking his swings, he walked off the field and saluted the fans one final time. It seems unlikely we’ll ever see in him a Twins uniform but maybe just maybe we’ll see him with the White Sox if he makes it.

It’ll just remain to be seen whether he receives the same standing ovation from the Twins fans.

Next: Number Four