Top ten Twins plays 2016

By less cowbell more 'neau.

I said Top Ten but this isn't going to be in any particular order and at this specific speck-in-time I don't even know if it will end up being ten. It might be nine. It might be thirteen. Ten sounds the best though, so deal w/it. So without further ado, here is more ado.

Before anyone berates me, I'm sure I missed some awesome plays that deserve to be here, but going through a years worth of MLB clips takes a long time so my search was by no means comprehensive. Now without further ado, here are fun clips.

Defense:

Byron Buxton, before and after

Byron Buxton is the second coming...err, third coming of Torii Hunter. Not only has he had a disappointing (until recently) offensive start to his MLB career, but he also robs homers like no-one's business. However, earlier in the year he hadn't quite figured out the Torii Graceful Dismount Technique™

That was a pretty violent dismount, let's see the judge's scores. 6, 7, 5 aaand 3? The judge from Croatia is really harsh today.

Much better than his first attempt. Judges? 10, 10, 10 and 9. F*** you Croatia.

Route Efficiency: 100%

There is absolutely no reason Brian Dozier should have got to this ball. Even if the camera angle made it look worse than it was.

If you thought he had a chance at this moment you are either a liar or an extreme optimist.

Or just smarter than me.

Air Mauer

Ain't no rules says a Joe can't play ball.

I'm a fan of the diving catch at first. The reflexes needed for it are so crazy that we fans are lucky if the camera even catches it. Joe is actually pretty good at it too! Bonus points for the double play and Gomes cursing to himself at the end.

James Beresford later made a nice play of his own at first, this time with some Australian flavor. I'm not allowed to embed it, so here is a link.

TOOTBLAN

I don't even have to say something funny about this. This is the reason we yell TOOTBLAN a lot, and that is a blessing.

Bonus Video: Gibson falls on his butt.

Needs more PFP.

Offense:

Around the bases in 13 seconds

Byron Buxton is really fast. So fast that I can not embed this video of his inside-the-parker, so you'll have to click this link.

Eduardo Nunez also had his own lead-off inside-the-park HR. It was just a tad slower than Buxton's but had more smiles and less helmets.

MAXIMUM KEPLER

Nothing like a grand-dong.

He also had this day, in-case you forgot how ridiculously good he was for a stretch there.

Walk-off dingers are the best dingers

Oh, by the way. Here's Kepler's first career HR.

His rookie season was 'aight, I guess.

Dozier (of course) and Arcia (RIP) did it too.

Literal Walk-Off

What about Joe Mauer though? Well he walked off his own way.

So lazy.

Bonus Vids: Sano Doubters and the Feelgood flick of the year

How do you even hit a ball that high.

Another I can't embed, but if this didn't make you smile we can no longer be friends.

#1

And the best play of the year award goes to:

https://twitter.com/itmightbemike

(Video courtesy of Mike Lynner on twitter whom I hope doesn't mind me making a gif out of it.)

Robbie Grossman for his stunning performance in whatever the hell this was!

If you think of anything I missed, be sure to share!