The Minnesota Twins continued to clear space on their 40-man roster on Thursday by outrighting infielder/outfielder Brian Dinkelman
--Tom Pellisserroo, 1500ESPN.com
Twins fans have been through a lot over the years. The premature end to Kirby Puckett's career. September 1984. The Mike Maksudian Era. But nothing could prepare them for the body blow that was landed yesterday, as beloved Twin Brian Dinkelman was let go to make room on the Twins' 40-man roster. As we deal with our collective loss, let's look back at some of the moments that "The Dink" provided us over the years:
- June 4, 2011: Dinkelman makes his MLB debut. He gets hit by a pitch, collects a single, draws an intentional walk and makes a terrific diving catch. The DinkelSlam, as it came to be known, was the talk of Twins Territory.
- September 11, 2011: Dinkelman fails to advance baserunners twice in one game. As much as we criticize players, chances are, if we were in their shoes, we would fail miserably. Dinkelman showed us what would happen if some internet comment jerk had a bat in his or her hand. It was a valuable lesson, one that needed to be taught.
- September 17-18, 2011: Dinkelman, burning white with the heat of a thousand suns, goes 7-for-9 over the course of two games. The DinkelMonster, as he came to be known, had been loosed on the American League.
There are countless other stories to be told about Dinkelman. Like the time he got sent down to Rochester, only to be called back up again because someone else got hurt again. No, not that time, the other time. The time he was accidentally sent on a deep space mission. The time he did something bad and Gardy yelled at Valencia.
Of course, if The Dink were here, he'd tell us not to worry about him, and to maybe spare a thought for Derry, Maine prison guard Phil Dumatrait, who was also outrighted yesterday and will have to spin it for someone else in 2012. That's just our Dink.
DINKELMAN.