Game 117: Rays at Twins

First Pitch: 6:10 pm CDT

TV: Bally Sports North

Radio: WCCO 830 / The Wolf 102.9 FM / TIBN

It’s that time of year when 15 or so fanbases are neck-deep in a pennant race, watching helplessly as the calendar barrels towards September, side-eyeing their magic number, and starting to stress about the very real possibility of playoff baseball. But here at Twinkie Town, we are unencumbered by such expectations, and as a result, can enjoy summer baseball from a significantly less stressful position.

With that perspective in mind, you can ask yourself, who’s really having a better season - the Rays or the Twins? The Rays have the best record in the American League, sure. But here in Minnesota, we’re playing for the love of the game. If there’s anything the league’s Field of Dreams contest taught us this week, it’s that love of the game should be appreciated — as a result, I lobby that records be damned and MLB declare the Twins this year’s World Series Champions.

Congrats, everybody. We did it!

As a formality, the Twins and Rays will still be playing this evening, with longtime Cardinal arm Michael Wacha riding the bump for the visitors, and longtime Dodger tosser Kenta Maeda mounting the hill for the locals.

Both managers have submitted lineups, but with the Twins having already been declared moral victors, this little scrimmage may quickly devolve into a mutual on-field celebration, a sort of intramural soiree, as it were.

Fans may be welcomed onto the field, but please wait to be invited before making your grand entrance. No one has yet been “fashionably unexpected.”