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Best of Twinkie Town 2017

On the last day of 2017, let’s revisit some of the most trafficked and popular posts of the year.

By Maija Varda
Toronto Blue Jays v Minnesota Twins
HELL YES WE’RE THE BEST!
Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

It’s the last day of 2017, and what a fun year it has been! Especially for the Twins, who out performed almost all expectations by having a winning season and even making the AL Wild Card game. We had a fun time here at Twinkie Town, didn’t we?

I feel like now is a good time to re-visit our most trafficked and other best posts of the year. So here are our top 25 posts of the year and other special highlights! For extra fun, Twinkie Town hardcore regulars (if such a thing exists), try guessing what the top posts were before scrolling down. I bet you anything you’ll be wrong.

But without further ado...

Twinkie Town’s Top 25 Most Trafficked Posts of 2017

25. Why wasn’t Byung Ho Park claimed?

In retrospect, this doesn’t seem like so much of a mystery, but at the time, people were pretty confused about why no one bothered to claim ByungHo Park. This piece explained why.

24. The changing face of the Minnesota Twins

Going to be real here: SB Nation gave me the assignment of writing a 2017 season preview for the Twins, except it was supposed to somehow also cover the previous five years and the next five years, with the theme “the changing face of the team”. I was a bit confused, and wasn’t sure how to approach the question until a friend told me, “The face of the team is basically Joe Mauer and a slightly older Joe Mauer.” I ran with it, and it worked. Thanks Kelly.

23. Anonymous scout gives baffling Twins preview in Sports Illustrated

Stupidity does well for traffic.

22. The Twins won the Rays-Dodgers trade

A great piece by Andrew Bryzgornia after the Dodgers traded Jose De Leon to the Rays for second baseman Logan Forsythe, effectively ending the Brian Dozier to the Dodgers trade rumors that had persisted all of last offseason. Especially looking back now, Andrew was right. The Twins won the hell out of that trade.

21. Terry Ryan leaves voicemail for Derek Falvey regarding Jose Berrios

Ladies and gentlemen: Randball’s Stu.

20. It’s been 5 years since the trade that changed nothing for the Twins

Since I can never pass a chance to make a Nick Punto joke or two, this post was born. It addresses the Twins obsession with Nick Punto, and how a Twins fan can or should look at the high spenders throwing around money at the trade deadline and free agency.

19. Baseball America’s MLB expansion and realignment plan would suck for the Twins

This post is the one where Baseball America tried to lump the Twins in the east coast in their division realignment proposal and I said, “Oh hell no.”

18. Miguel Sano was totally justified in shoving James McCann

Remember when the Twins and the Tigers got in a bench clearing brawl last May? I still think Sano was justified, and I’m still mad he got the brunt of the punishment, but also... I’m not feeling so great about Miguel Sano right now. Gah.

17. Twins prospect Zack Granite is on fire

A great piece from Kyle Edelbrock that did justifiably well. Granite was called up shortly after this, helping boost the popularity of the piece and help prove its point.

16. Twins 2018 season schedule released

The future is bright, ain’t it? I also have some road trips suggested in here and I’m sure that’s actually why the post did so well.

15. Twins no longer do the Dougie, Mientkiewicz firing a huge misstep for front office

TJ Gorsegner was quick to address the shocking news of the departure of beloved former Twin and Twins minor league manager Doug Mientkiewicz. He said what I think many fans were also thinking.

14. Minnesota Twins select Royce Lewis first overall in 2017 MLB draft

One of the biggest moments of the year came when the Twins made the first overall pick in the 2017 MLB Draft, going with the young shortstop Royce Lewis.

13. Twins and Dodgers delay game eighteen minutes to argue about the lineup

I still can’t believe this happened — not even just to the Twins, but for what I assume is the first and only time in baseball.

12. What’s next for the Minnesota Twins?

Remember how the Twins made it to the AL Wild Card game this year? And then they lost? This was our post in response to that. Revisit at your own peril.

11. The end of the road for Glen Perkins

I haven’t even heard a thing about Glen Perkins talking to the Twins or any other team about a new deal, so I think the sentiment here was clear. It basically goes over Perkins’ baseball career and the emotional end of it.

We love you, Glen.

10. Top ten reasons why Joe Mauer sucks

This post came out the day after Joe Mauer hit his first ever walk-off home run. Fittingly.

9. The Twins have amazingly acquired three valuable minor league arms

TJ Gorsegner wrote a great rundown of the arms the Twins acquired at the trade deadline, and he wrote it before the deadline even passed. His points still stand — the Twins did well.

8. Twins trade Brandon Kintzler to Nationals at deadline

I’d like to think this post did so well because people were interested in hearing about Brandon Kintzler feeding a rhino at the time he was told he was traded. However, I think more of the success had to do with it just being the trade deadline, and everyone looking for the latest news.

7. Roster finalized, ByungHo Park left off it

It was actually a bit of a surprise ByungHo Park was left off the Opening Day roster, given his successful spring and the Twins’ lack of a clear DH (Robbie Grossman ended up being the Opening Day DH). The success of this post shows how much of a surprise it was, even if it doesn’t seem too surprising now in retrospect.

6. The Mets are furious Bartolo Colon signed with the Twins

A lot of people live in New York. A lot of people love Bartolo Colon. Both of those groups of people crossed here to make this post one of the most highly-viewed of the year. Worth it! Also, pissing off Mets fans is fun for some reason.

5. Minnesota Twins crushed the 2017 MLB draft

The Twins had the first overall pick in the draft this year, and they strategically approached is very well. Kyle Edlebrock wrote an excellent summary and analysis, so not surprised this post was so successful.

4. Twins, Mauer at loss to explain ‘Sexx Dragon’ nickname

This post doing well is pretty much self-explanatory.

3. Miguel Sano might be trade bait

This was a good post, but the reason for all the views is likely because it came out just before our number one highest trafficked post of the year...

2. The Metrodome was bulldozed just to make an even crappier baseball stadium

I was proud of this post myself, but I’ll still a bit confused about how much it blew up. Are there more Metrodome lovers out there than I thought? Maybe there is hope for this country.

1. Miguel Sano accused of sexual assault

Despite this post only having a couple days to rack up the views, it’s already — by far — the most viewed post on the site this year. I wish... I wish it wasn’t.

Honorable Mentions

To be honest, the internet is weird, and a lot of time the posts that get the most clicks are not necessarily the best posts. Hence, I want to share a handful of other Twinkie Town posts from 2017 that were also successful, but potentially more overlooked.

What was your favorite Twinkie Town post from the past year? Did you have any favorites that you didn’t see listed here? Let us know!

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