Minnesota Twins fans answer Questions about the Team

With still no baseball in sight, we asked Minnesota Twins fans a question of the day every day for each day without baseball. We take a look at the answers.

Back in March, when the Minnesota Twins season was suspended until further notice, I started a series of everyday Questions to try and learn more about the Twins fans who read our articles as well as to get a grip on how optimistic or pessimistic the fans are.

As it turns out, they’re a healthy mix of both. I take a look back at some of the best responses from Facebook during our sixty days of asking Twins fans how they feel about the team.

Minnesota Twins Questions of the Day

QOTD #1: What is your favorite Twins moment?

This one got one of the largest number of responses, with Twins fans pouring in memories of nearly 60 years of Twins fandom. Responses including Kirby Puckett’s homer and Joe Buck’s call in Game 6 and other memories from the World Series Victories were very popular, but there were some heartfelt memories as well.

Memories from Joe Mauer’s retirement, Game 163 of 2009, growing up watching Harmon Killebrew, first baseball games and more made this an excellent first question of the day.

QOTD #4: Which Twins manager is your favorite?

This was perhaps the easiest question to answer for most fans.. A few people said Ron Gardenhire, and a couple said Rocco Baldelli, but the one answer was overwhelmingly selected: TK. Tom Kelly was easily the favorite and with good reason: No other Twins manager has brought home a World Series, and Kelly won two. Easy selection.

QOTD #5: When did you first become a Twins fan?

More people commented on this one than almost any other post, and almost all of them had a fond memory that brought them into the Twins fandom. Through thick and thin, Twins fans are an extremely loyal bunch, and hearing about those beginnings was awesome.

QOTD #10: Which Twins ballpark is your favorite?

Few people on this one chose Metropolitan Stadium, the Twins home until the 1980s, but people were very divided between the Dome and Target Field, the two stadiums the Minnesota Twins most recently have called home.

On one hand, the Dome got LOUD, has more memories, and there were no worries about weather. On the other hand, summer in Minnesota is often beautiful, and the open concourses and plaza are amazing. It’s hard to pick one, but Twins fans seem to love both.

QOTD #13: If you could have one former Twins player come back (in their prime) who would it be?

This question (similar to the fifth question) brought back a huge range of answers. Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew were the most popular answers, while Johan Santana and Bert Blyleven were more practical answers.

There were also some pretty interesting answers as well, like Lyman Bostock, Liam Hendriks, and Kyle Lohse. It was cool to see all the different players that Twins fans wanted back.

QOTD #21: What is your favorite away stadium the Twins play at?

Classic Stadiums like Fenway and Wrigley were brought up for this one, while really nice ballparks like Petco and Camden Yards earned mentions, but the most surprising answer was the that Kauffman stadium was the most popular!

This may have been boosted by Kansas City being one of the closest ballparks (excluding the ones in Milwaukee and Chicago), but it rang true all the same. Kansas City does field one of the top ballparks in the majors.

QOTD #35: If you could go back in time and stop one Twins trade from happening, what trade would it be?

This was a particularly hurtful one, looking back at all of the trades the Twins lost out on, but two stuck out above the rest: the Tom Brunansky and Johan Santana trades. Both trades sucked, but for different reasons.

The Brunansky trade was disastrous because it sent away a fan favorite for a despised player, while the Twins lost the Santana trade three times (trading away Gomez and J.J. Hardy both were the wrong move). Both are among our list of the worst trades in team history.

QOTD #39: Who is your personal most hated player?

Minnesota Twins fans are a relatively nice bunch, but when a player does them wrong, there’s a lot of hate for that individual. When MLB.com listed A.J. Pierzynski as the Twins’ most hated player, I asked who Twins fans thought it actually was. The resounding answer? Chuck Knoblauch, the entirety of the Yankees, and Pierzynski.

Knoblauch broke our hearts, Pierzynski cleated Morneau, and the Yankees seem to beat the Twins in the playoffs every time (six of the last seven appearances). Outside of the people who hate Joe Mauer, it’s good to see we all agree.

Minnesota Twins Predictions

After a while it came time to switch up the questions, so started asking questions that talked about which players would be the most successful, least successful, and everywhere in between.

QOTD #43: If the season began today, which Twins player’s 2020 would you be most excited for?

Twins fans seemed to be the most excited for the debut of Josh Donaldson. The general belief is that the bringer of rain would bring leadership, homers, and hopefully some playoff success when baseball resumes.

QOTD #46: Injuries happen in sports, and players miss games. Which Twins player do you think will miss the most games in 2020?

For this one, I was expecting the answer to Byron Buxton, as the Twins centerfielder struggles to play the game safely enough to stay healthy, but the answer given most often was far more grim: all of them.

Twins fans (at least the ones who cared to respond) appear to be under the all too possible belief that the Twins (and baseball as whole) will not be played this year. Hopefully that isn’t true, but with no agreement in sight, who knows.

QOTD #55: How many games will the Twins win this year?

QOTD #56: How many homers will the Twins hit this season (if the season is 82 games)

We’ll lump these two together, based on the assumption that the Twins would be playing 82 games. The expectation was the the team would win around 50 games will hitting 115 homers, a pace of 100 wins and 230 homers, both pretty realistic answers.

Unfortunately that same pessimism entered both questions. Several fans still have their doubts, a continuing theory for the rest of the questions.

QOTD #57: Which Minnesota Twins starter do you think will have the best season?

Once again, this wasn’t a surprise. Though Jose Berrios is not a surefire ace, he’s far and away the best starter the Twins have, making him the easy choice and the only starter that the fans believed would have the best year.

QOTD #58: Which Twins reliever do you think will have the best season?

This was far more competitive. While Taylor Rogers was the main answer, Trevor May and Sergio Romo also received votes, meaning Twins fans aren’t quite sure what to make of the team’s bullpen.

QOTD #61: Do you think the Twins will play baseball in 2020, and if so, when?

This was the question that arguably hurt the most to read the answers to. With some optimism in the other questions there was little to be found here, as only one fan believed baseball would return, and no fans believed it will be starting before July.