FanPost

"Over" (Ode To Danny Valencia)

(Quick Note: Now that I am done with my Masters Degree program online, I might actually be able to comment on this stuff closer to the time it happens!)

Danny-valencia_medium

via aarongleeman.com

One thing that sports teaching us is that change is inevitable. During the early summer months of 2010, my family moved to the Twin Cities suburb of Forest Lake, MN. After living closer to Alexandria for most of my life, I would attend about 4-5 Twins games a year at the Dome.

Now that I was closer to the stadium, and it just so happened to be the newly-built Target Field, I was in seventh heaven! I went to a whole bunch of games that magical '10 summer, with everything kind of falling in place both for the Twins and myself.

One of the things I will remember most about that season was the emergence of Danny Valencia playing third based. When Danny came up to the big leagues due to an injury to Nick Punto (I believe), he had quite literally perhaps the hottest streak of any Twins hitter in a long, long time.

I mean, here was this young cocky kid striding to the plate with this "theme music"...

...and seemingly never letting the fans down. I've been watching the Twins since the mid-1990s, and I had never seen a batter more "money" when runners were in scoring position (or especially with the bases loaded).

As a result, Danny become a personal favorite of mine, taking over the void from Joe Nathan's (my previous favorite) Tommy John absence. He continued to be a force throughout the entire 2010 campaign, and then had a decent season in 2011. As such, big things were expected this year.

The result? All of a sudden, Danny couldn't hit ANYTHING, with an 0-26 streak sending him to Rochester last week. I can't argue with the decision, as #22 was a detriment to the team by hardly even making contact during his ABs, but I hope to see him in a Twins uniform sometime soon again.

Perhaps it is just nostalgia for a magical 2010 season that produced a lot of flashbulb moments (especially in the wake of this '12 mess), but I truly hope that it isn't "Over" for Danny-boy.