Minnesota Twins: Twins Fandom lands at No. 71 in the FanSided 250

The FanSided website dropped its yearly ranking of fan bases, and the Minnesota Twins and their fans made a big jump in 2020!

Every year, FanSided, the parent website of Puckett’s Pond, drops their annual list of the 250 hottest fanbases of that year (including the Minnesota Twins), and ranks them in terms of fans, moments, and more to establish the best fan bases in the country (and some outside).

The rankings take into account mostly online support, including social media following, search engine scores, and fan vote. This often leaves the Minnesota Twins on the outside. As a smaller city franchise, the team struggles because of a lower population and East Coast bias.

In 2017, the first year of the rankings, the team didn’t make an appearance, despite a playoff appearance. In 2018, the Twins struggled in the real world and missed the cut. In 2019, the team won the division and set the record for most home runs in a season, but only advanced to No. 197, the 14th highest ranked in the MLB.

That all changed in 2020. The Twins shot up the board, buoyed by a bigger fan vote (63.1 million votes in 2020 vs. 52.5 million votes in 2019) and a second straight American League Central title, the first time the team won back-to-back titles in ten years.

They moved all the way up to No. 71 overall, the highest of any Minnesota sports team. The Vikings checked in at No. 198, the Timberwolves finished at 167, and the Minnesota Golden Gophers made their first appearance at 145.

The Twins also ranked eighth among MLB teams, finishing behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 5), the San Diego Padres (No. 28), the New York Yankees (No. 31), the Tampa Bay Rays (No. 53), the Atlanta Braves (No. 54), the Oakland A’s (No. 56), and the Chicago White Sox (No. 63).

It’s nice to see the Minnesota Twins and their fans earn some respect for their rise to the head of the division. Hopefully the team can make a big offseason addition like last season and keep right on rising in 2021.