Monday Morning Minnesota: Almost not 2020 anymore Edition

Previously on Twinkie Town:

• JohnFoley examined how spin led the Twins out of the pitching wilderness - part two. Now, I know what you are thinking. “But Tawny, why is called part two?????” Well, you dummies, that’s because there was a part one also! They’re great, read them or I’m coming for you.
• Can you name all of the 2020 Twins? Don’t answer that yes or no by telling at your computer like I’m gonna respond, go actually try and do it in the linked quiz.
• Matt recaps and completes his outstanding Worst All-Time Twins tournament! Congrats(?!) to the winning team.
• Zach has an official list of Twins Grinches sponsored both by the Twins and Dr. Seuss himself. Or not, I dunno.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Twin Cities Business examines the nitty-gritty of the Twins-Saints alliance.
• NPB’s Yokohama BayStars formally anounced their signing of suddenly ex-Twin Fernando Romero. Romero’s meteoric plummet from expected Twins mainstay to not-in-MLB-anymore has been interesting to say the least. (Good for him though, he’ll make more in Japan than he would have here.)
• The Star Tribune’s Patrick Reusse looks back at the eventful year in Minnesota Sports history that was 1960. This is a really fun read if you are, like me, not yet an old person who is old and grew up unironically listening to the music you find in Fallout games or whatever, because I didn’t know about half of this.
• Twins Daily looks a bit into the future and projects the Twins 2024 lineup. Hopefully by then we have a full season to watch hahahahahha....ha...ha sigh
• It appears the Twins are in on Marcus Semien.

Around the World in Bases and Balls:

• It might not be the Niekro that played for the Twins, but it’s still fun to remember the late Phil Niekro, knuckleball extraordinaire. And who better to remember him than the Hall of Fame itself?
• The recent “elevation” of some of the Negro Leagues by the MLB to “official major leagues” is interesting from a statistical point of view because of how it changes the calculus for some hall of fame cases. Minnie Miñoso being one of them.

Today’s soundtrack is Kirby. Beep beep boop boop, swallow your enemies whole.