A year to remember: 4 amazing moments the Twins gave us in 2023
Let's look back at one of the best years in Twins history!
At the end of any year a moment of reflection is valuable. As the sun sets on 2023 the Minnesota Twins have a lot to reflect on, and fans have more than a few amazing moments to look back on and smile at.
The ups and downs of a grueling season takes its toll; however, in the end a lot went right this year. From a historic inning at Yankee Stadium to rookies shocking the league, and bringing playoff baseball back to the city of Minneapolis just to name a few!
Let's send the year off by looking back at some of the high points of the Twins season that we are still smiling about so many months later.
A signature moment for Carlos Correa
It took a while, but June 13th finally gave Twins fans a signature Carlos Correa moment. The Twins were playing the Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota had already scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game.
With a runner on first, Correa hit a game winning two-run home run off the facing of the second deck in left field. The Twins won 7-5 that night! It was a team effort to complete the comeback.
The win got the Twins back above .500 with a 34-33 record. Prior to hitting that home run Correa was 0-for-4 on the night and in a pretty gnarly slump. All of the frustration he had was taken out on that ball that traveled 408 feet. It was also the kickstart of a 10-game home stand for the Twins and you cannot write a much better start than that.
A nine run first inning in the Bronx
Thursday April 13th -- as a Twins fan how could you forget this night?
It was the start a four-game series for the Twins in The Bronx against the New York Yankees. The Yankees have caused the Twins tremendous amounts of pain over the years, especially while playing in New York.
However, the Twins would be the one inflicting pain on this night.
A nine run first inning that included back-to-back-to-back home runs! Taylor, Julien, and Correa hit home runs. How often do you see that? Outside of the home runs Julien did something not seen much. Julien got his first MLB hit and home run in the same inning. Minnesota silenced the New York crowd by sending 13 men to the plate in the first inning alone.
The Twins would go on to split the four-game series with the Yankees in New York, but eventually win the season series for the first time since the early-2000s. Little did we know how much that would end up embodying a season of curse-breaking for the Twins.
Royce Lewis to the history books
Single game moments were fun to experience, but Twins fans also got to live through sustained success from one of the greatest rookie performances in franchise history.
Royce Lewis made history this season, and it was glorious to witness.
Let's not stand on ceremony here, of all the things Lewis did over the course of sixty-six games, hitting five grand slams is where the discussion about his rookie season begins. Lewis passed Alexei Ramirez for most grand slams by a rookie in MLB history, with four of his grand slams coming over the course of 20 games.
It's the shortest span to hit four grand slams in MLB history.
According to ESPN, the previous record was held by Don Mattingly who accomplished the feat in 39 games during the 1987 season, and Travis Hafner in 44 games in 2006.
"I think about the wins that come with [setting the record]. It seems like every time I hit one, we've won the game, so hopefully we can keep doing that and have some other guys hit some too, which would be great," Lewis said after his accomplishment.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli couldn't believe was he was witnessing either.
"I'm absolutely amazed. I've never seen anyone do anything like this in my life on any level," Baldelli said. "I've never seen anyone do that."
Personally, I think that quote sums the season up perfectly for Royce Lewis! Never seen anything like it and the fact that it's only the beginning of his journey makes it even more exciting.
Postseason success in Minneapolis
As great as some of the moments during the season were, it's impossible to talk about the Twins season without celebrating what happened in October.
Minnesota finally drew somebody other than the Yankees in the postseason and the Twins made quick work of Toronto by sweeping the series, including winning game two by shutting the Toronto offense out.
This was the first postseason series win for the Twins since 2002 and it ended a 19-year losing streak that had hung over the team like a dark cloud. However, something that stuck out as a nice cherry on top was the voice making the call.
Calling this series for ESPN was Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay, along with former Yankee Alex Rodriguiez. Kay has worked for the YES Network calling Yankees games for many years, calling multiple Yankee series victories over the Twins. However, this time he is calling a slightly different moment. What's unexpectedly cool is that you can hear the excitement in his voice while making the call.
It was one thing to hear Cory Provus make the call on Twins Radio, but hearing a third-party -- and one so deeply connected to the postseason pain -- make the call with such joy was an unexpected plot twist.
A great call from Kay and a great day for Twins Territory!
There were many more great moments that we got to witness during the 2023 year, and it's safe to say that the year will go out with a bang as we hope for even greater things next year.
With that in mind, what better way to bring in the new year than watching Twins closer Jhoan Duran come out of the bullpen and onto the mound. This is an electrifying entrance, and the Twins will bring electricity 2024.
HAPPY NEW YEAR TWINS TERRITORY!
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