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I want to encourage all @twins fans to enjoy Virtual #TwinsFest tomorrow. A lot of people have worked really hard to make the best of a challenging situation. As a warm up, here is a thread about how TwinsFest has shaped a family tradition in our house
My daughter had the temerity to be born January 30th, which often - like this year - means #TwinsFest. 10 years ago I spent her 2nd birthday doing a Friday Winter Caravan leg with @thisisdspan. He wasn’t a dad yet, but chewed me out for missing her bday
Since she was turning 2 and he was #2 he signed a ball to her with a sweet birthday message - happy bday from one 2 to another. I tucked it away, and we went to Twinsfest that night. I don’t collect autographs or pictures from work, but Denard planted the seed: a ball every year
to match her age, a spherical record of who I spent her birthday with. Harmon loved the idea of being #3, but sadly it was our last conversation. From there, however, Paul Molitor, @roysmalley5 , Tony O, Joe Mauer & @kurtsuzuki couldn’t have been better.
We ran into a problem at 9 since we didn’t have one on the roster. But just days before #TwinsFest @morsecode told me I was in luck - new hitting coach @derekshelton had chosen to wear 9. I only knew Shelty from his awesome tv commercials, so it was an odd ask when we first met
He actually didn’t want to do it - said he didn’t belong in such company, but I convinced him otherwise and he fits right in. TK is a perfect 10, & last year while swapping old Six Pac stories about Randy Flores Jacque Jones stepped in at 11
My daughter now loves the tradition. She used to ask me when she would be @trevorplouffe years old so she could get a ball from her favorite. This year, of course, things are different. Not only do we not have an active 12 - @JakeOdorizzi would have been a great addition
but she finally has to actually spend her birthday with me! So 12 will remain vacant, a reminder of a horrible year mitigated by the silver lining that dad was home a lot more. I know #TwinsFest means a lot of different things to alit of different people
And it is important on many levels. In that spirit, I share our #TwinsFest family tradition - one I look forward to picking up in person next year, including a face-to-face thank you to @thisisdspan
