Game 98: Angels at Twins

Time: 7:10 Central. Vegas Line: -135 ANA / -115 MIN

Weather: 91° and muggy, showers possible late

Opponent’s once Hugely Busted SB site: Halos Heaven

TV: BS North. Radio: Tearing up the seven veils

I and many of you probably remembered that Alex Cobb, tonight’s Angels starter, originally came off the Rays’ endless Young Talented Starter assembly line; you get Internet Points if you knew he spent the last few seasons in Baltimore. (Nobody knows who plays in Baltimore, just like in two years nobody will remember half the Twins’ 2021 bullpen.)

Cobb’s had more than his usual share of misfortunes over the years; he was cracked in the head by a batted ball, and (unrelated) had to get a rib removed a la Phil Hughes because of the dreaded “thoracic outlet syndrome.” Worse, a tornado nearly wiped out his girlfriend (now wife); more worse, his brother’s Humvee was blown up in Iraq (the brother was luckily not seriously harmed); and worst of all his mother died at 49 from multiple strokes. Medical s**t, unfortunately, can happen to Anyone, Anytime.

Cobb says these incidents taught him that, no matter what goes down on the mound, “You’ve been through worse. The worst thing in life that could happen has probably happened to you, knock on wood.” It’s a healthy attitude to have, even if in fact it is wrong (the worst is, always, yet to come, until you’re dead). We’ll root for him anyways, except in tonight’s game, where he’ll throw a low-90s fastball, effective curveball and change. 2021 digits:

The thing you need to know about J.A. Happ is absolutely nothing at all.

It’s time for this week’s installment of Baseball Stuff TwinkieTowners own, once again provided by M.Grasso (from his blog, with permission). It’s about the classic hands-across-the-river logo (that our Zach Koenig identified as his favorite recently):

These big galoots shaking hands across the Mississippi River are called “Minnie” and “Paul”, representing the personifications of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. I like how old the concept is. Here’s a coin of the Emperor Hadrian with a personification of the River Nile. Note the hippo and crocodile!

Of course the Twins logo is not 2000 years old. But it does go back a ways. Here’s a poster that has kicked around in our family for many years:

Clearly this is an earlier version of what now towers over center field, but it has some interesting differences and a history of its own.

Here’s the very first version, created by a man named Ray Barton in 1960 when it was announced that the then Washington Senators would be moving to Minnesota and getting a new name. Barton was told that it would only be used on paper cups and such. The legendarily cheap Twins management paid him the princely sum of $15 for his work. He is said to have never really been satisfied with the image. Or the paycheck.

Perhaps haste led to error... notice how the back sleeve of “Minnie” has been left blank! This does not appear on any of the other versions I have seen on pennants and posters.

The version on our poster premiered at the start of the inaugural 1961 season. But take a closer look. The “Win Twins” wording quotes a bouncy tune that the team used back then. I remember it at the beginning of each radio broadcast....

Note that the poster references the World Series and so is unlikely to have been made before they won the American League championship on September 26th. And since the Twins ultimately did not win the Series it was probably not made afterwards as a commemorative. So that gives us roughly a ten day window between the end of the League championship and the start of the Series. We have a theory that the poster might have been made on the very day the Twins clinched, perhaps as part of a Welcome Home celebration, the team having won the pennant while on the road.

I edited this a bit, as it was posted in a year that the Twins were doing very well. And I’m sure M.Grasso wouldn’t want you to be depressed thinking of those better days gone by. You can read the original here, and thanks, MG!

As always, feel free to share pictures/stories of Stuff You Own by sending them to me via twinsbrewer@yahoo.com. Put “my amazing lucky Twins socks” or whatever in the subject line so I know it’s from one of you fine folks. C’mon, only three of you have joined in so far; you can do better. Or maybe you can’t, because you’re all WEAK. WEAK!!!

Anyhoo, enjoy the game!

(P.S.: in The Show, Ohtani’s “Power” ability rating is 117 — out of 100. But only against righthanders; his lefty “Power” is a mere 102. That’s why he’s not in the starting lineup, I’m sure... the Angels fear the mighty Happ.)